The WTA has announced today the winners of the 2020 WTA Player Awards, the WTA Coach of the Year, Karen Krantzcke Sportmanship Award and Peachy Kellmeyer Player Service Award.
Sofia Kenin was voted the WTA Player of the Year. The US player claimed her first Grand Slam title at last January’s Australian Open after beating Ashleigh Barty in the semifinal and Garbine Muguruza in the final and reached her second Grand Slam final at the French Open before losing to Iga Swiatek in the title match. She won her second career WTA title in Lyon.
She reached the Round of 16 at the US Open, becoming one of the two players to reach the second week at all three Grand Slam tournaments and finished the season at a career-high of world number 4.
Kristina Mladenovic and Timea Babos lifted two Grand Slam trophies at the Australian Open and Roland Garros, claiming the third and the fourth Major titles as a team. They beat top seeds Barbora Strycova and Hsieh-Su wei in the Australian Open final. Mladenovic and Babos also reached the semifinal at the Doha Qatar Open.
Mladenovic spent one week as the World number 1 doubles player on 24 February 2020, while Babos reached world number 2 in the WTA Doubles Ranking.
Iga Swiatek was voted the WTA Most Improved Player of the Year. Swiatek player clinched her first Tour-level title at Roland Garros, beating 2019 finalist Marketa Vondrousova, 2018 champion Simona Halep and Sofia Kenin. After winning the French Open title broke into the top 20 and ended the season at a career-high of world number 17.
The 19-year-old Polish player became the youngest player since Monica Seles to win the French Open. She did not drop a set in the whole French Open tournament. The 19-year-old Polish player lost just 23 games in the whole tournament.
She became the first Polish player (man or woman) to win a Grand Slam singles title. Swiatek started her 2020 season by reaching the Round of 16 at the Australian Open.
The WTA Newomer of the Year is Natalia Podoroska, who started the 2020 season ranked outside the top 250. She advanced to her career first Tour-level semifinal this year at Roland Garros, where she came through the qualifying round. She beat Elina Svitolina in the quarter final and Iga Swiatek in the semifinal.
Before Roland Garros Podorska had never won a Grand Slam match or beaten a top 50 ranked player. She scored a 13-match winning streak between the ITF title in Saint Malo and the French Open semifinal as a qualifier and reached the quarter final in Linz. She entered the top 100 and the top 50 for the first time in her career in 2020 and improved her year-end ranking from 2019 by over 200 spots.
Victoria Azarenka won the WTA Comeback of the Year Award. The Belarusian player scored her first title in four years at the Western and Southern Open in New York in 2020 before reaching her fifth career Grand Slam final at the US Open. She ended the year with another final in Ostrava, where she finished runner-up to Aryna Sabalenka.
The Belarusian player beat Venus Williams and Sofia Kenin at the the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome before losing to Garbine Muguruza in the quarter finals.
Azarenka, who gave birth to her son Leo in December 2016, returned to the WTA top 20 for the first time since March 2017 and ended the season ranked world number 13.
Marie Bouzhkova wins her first Karen Kranzzcke Sportsmanship Award, which is voted on by her colleagues on Tour and is presented to the player who conducts herself in a manner fitting of a professional sports figure, observes the rules of fair play, shows respect for others. The Peachy Kellmeyer Player Service Award is given to all 10 players that served on the WTA Players’ Council during the 2020 season. The group formed by Kristie Ahn, Gabriela Dabrowski, Madison Keys, Johanna Konta, Aleksandra Krunic, Christina McHale, Kristina Mladenovic, Anastasya Pavlyuchenkova, Sloane Stephens and Donna Vekic has worked on discussing proposals to help the WTA Tour return safely and successfully during this difficult and unprecedented year affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.
