Serena Williams' has been nominated for the WTA Comeback Player of the Year Award after completing her final season as a professional player.
Millions of fans worldwide were devastated after Williams bid farewell to tennis at the US Open. In her final match, she lost in the third round to Ajla Tomljanovic, and fans were in tears during the tennis legend's retirement ceremony.
Williams ended her extraordinary career with 23 Grand Slam singles titles, 14 Grand Slam doubles crowns with sister Venus Williams, Olympic gold medals in singles and doubles, and 319 weeks at No. 1 in the singles rankings.
The American's retirement makes it easy to forget that she returned from 12 months out with an injury during the grass-court season. After playing doubles with Ons Jabeur in Eastbourne, she lost a tight match to Harmony Tan in the opening round at Wimbledon.
Williams only managed one victory at the Canadian Open and Cincinnati Open, but the 41-year-old performed well at the US Open, beating the No. 2 seed Anett Kontaveit in the second round before losing in three sets to Tomljanovic.
The seven-time Wimbledon singles champion returning to thrill fans after a severe injury before retirement has earned her a nomination for WTA Comeback Player of the Year alongside three other players.
This year's Wimbledon semifinalist Tatjana Maria is among those nominated. The German was away on maternity leave from the summer of 2020 to the summer of 2021 and proved that female players can step away to have a child and still be successful afterward.
Daria Saville's results after missing almost the entire 2021 season with an injury also earned her a nomination. Unfortunately, the Australian sustained another serious injury in a match against Naomi Osaka at the Japan Open in Tokyo.
Donna Vekic is the final nominee. She slipped outside the Top 100 while out for nearly three months with a knee injury in 2022, but impressive results saw her ranking rise again after returning.
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