Despite some suggesting that Serena Williams should get the 2022 Comeback Player of the Year award, it went to Tatjana Maria.
The German made a compelling argument for why she deserved to be rewarded for coming back to the sport after a long hiatus. She made it to the Wimbledon semifinals and significantly raised her rankings, entering the top 100 for the first time since she first stopped playing tennis.
It may not surprise anyone today that she achieved it at age 35, and also one year after giving birth to her second child, but it is still impressive. Williams, on the other hand, made a comeback to tennis as well, but she wasn't quite as successful as Maria.
Some suggested that Williams should still get for being able to come back at all but even her coach wasn't really in favour of that. Rennae Stubbs guided Serena at her final event at the US Open this year, but she thought Saville should win:
"No, should be Daria.....Love Donna and she had a great come back but Dasha deserves this one. Dasha had a Achilles and a#foot surgeries. She’s has so many surgery’s in the last 3 years and what she didn’t his year was INCREDIBLE!""