Tatjana Maria won the 2022 WTA Comeback Player of the Year award; however, former player Rennae Stubbs backed her compatriot for the honor.
This year’s WTA Comeback Player of the Year award had some strong nominations, making it a tight race. The only unusual nomination among these players was Serena Williams, whose comeback year resembled more of a farewell Tour.
Other nominations included players who had relative success on the WTA Tour this year. Daria Saville was one of the players returning to play some impressive tennis this year.
Donna Vekic also had a solid year, securing notable wins, as did Tatjana Maria. In the end, the German was declared the winner because she performed exceptionally well this year, particularly at Wimbledon, where she made a deep run, reaching the semi-finals.
Her story was further elevated by the fact that she is a mother and returned to the sport at an age not typically considered the prime for an athlete.
Stubbs initially endorsed her fellow Australian Saville leading up to the award season and reiterated her support after Maria was declared the winner. She took to Twitter to express her thoughts.
She reminded her followers that Saville did not play at all last year and improved from 421st in the world to number 53 before suffering a season-ending knee injury at the Japan Open.
Perhaps if she hadn’t suffered that injury and had a strong finish to the year, Saville could have won, but even without that, she had a really strong case. Unfortunately, there is only one award to be won.
"Love Tatjana Maria, but she played for six months in 2021 after her second child. As much as I adore her, Daria Saville deserved this award. She was ranked #421 to start this year after being out all of 2021 following another surgery and ended it at #53. Remember, she didn’t play last year at all."