Rennae Stubbs in disbelief after Pegula WTA Most Improved Award snub
WTA
Rennae Stubbs was shocked to see Jessica Pegula miss out on the WTA Most Improved Player of the Year award.
Jessica Pegula emerged later than many women's players. By the time she turned 25, she had never qualified for the main draw of any Grand Slam other than the US Open. Few players have significant success after making that start to their careers.
However, after impressive progress from 2019 until 2021, Pegula enjoyed an excellent 2022 season. She and Iga Swiatek were the only players to reach three Grand Slam quarterfinals, only failing to do so at Wimbledon.
The American won her maiden WTA 1000 title at the Guadalajara Open, overcoming Maria Sakkari in the final. She was also the runner-up to Ons Jabeur at the Madrid Open, losing an entertaining three-set battle.
Those achievements would have made her a worthy candidate for the WTA Most Improved Player of the Year award, but she was not nominated after being among the nominees for the WTA Player of the Year award, which Iga Swiatek unsurprisingly won.
Instead, Beatriz Haddad Maia received the WTA Most Improved Player of the Year award. The Brazilian made a maiden Grand Slam semifinal at the French Open, finished as the runner-up at the Canadian Open, and won two titles in 2022.
In an episode of the Rennae Stubbs Podcast, the Australian outlined why she thinks Pegula deserved to win that award despite acknowledging that Haddad Maia also had an incredible year.
"What about Jessica Pegula? Beatriz Haddad Maia had an incredible year but...(Pegula is) three in the world. She won a WTA 1000 event leading into the championships. Not only did she make the singles but also the doubles. I mean, come on, number three in the world. What else has she got to do?"
"She (Jessica Pegula) was nominated for player of the year but didn't get that. She was a much-improved player, not the best player. The best player was Iga Swiatek."
