Swiatek, a Polish player aged 21 who won the WTA Newcomer of the Year award in 2020, had the most victories on the tour with 67 and won eight championships.
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Iga Swiatek received the WTA Player of the Year award for the first time on Monday after reaching the top spot in the rankings in April and holding it for the remainder of the season, in part because of her two Grand Slam victories. Swiatek, a Polish player aged 21 who won the WTA Newcomer of the Year award in 2020, had the most victories on the tour with 67 and won eight championships. This included a string of six consecutive championships during a 37-match winning streak from February to July, which was the longest unbeaten run in women’s tennis in twenty-five years.
Ash Barty, who had held the top spot since he abruptly retired at age 25, fell to second place, and she rose to first. After winning the US Open in September and her second major title at the French Open in June, Swiatek became the first woman to win two Slam trophies in a single season since Angelique Kerber in 2016. “I felt like everything clicked this season,” Swiatek said in a video interview with The Associated Press during her unbeaten streak. “And I wasn’t expecting to be that consistent.”
David Witt received the WTA Coach of the Year honour. He works with American Jessica Pegula, 28, who achieved a career-high ranking of No. 3 in 2022 and reached the quarterfinals of three Grand Slam competitions before losing to Barty or Swiatek each time. Pegula also won the Guadalajara Open, reached her first WTA 1000 final at the Madrid Open, and earned singles and doubles qualifying spots for the WTA Finals (with Coco Gauff).
Other registered coaches cast votes for Witt to receive this honour. Following their victories at the Australian Open, Wimbledon, and US Open, Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic were named the WTA Doubles Team of the Year for the second consecutive season and the third time overall. Brazil’s Beatriz Haddad Maia won her first two tour-level championships and was named the WTA’s Most Improved Player of the Year after moving up from No. 80 to No. 15 in the rankings.
China’s Qinwen Zheng, who turned 20 in October, won the WTA Newcomer of the Year award after moving up more than 100 rankings positions and making it all the way to the fourth round of the French Open before losing to Swiatek. Tatjana Maria of Germany won the WTA Comeback Player of the Year award after becoming the oldest woman to compete in a major tournament at age 34 and reaching her first Grand Slam semifinal at Wimbledon. She missed two tours to give birth to her children.
Ons Jabeur won the Karen Krantzcke Sportsmanship Award, Gabriela Dabrowski won the Peachy Kellmeyer Player Service Award for a third time, and Maria Sakkari was honoured with the Jerry Diamond ACES Award for her work to advance the game outside of the court.
