The WTA has released the finalists for the 2015 WTA Comeback of the Year Award. The criteria to be selected as Comeback of the Year Award winner includes players who have made a come-back after their ranking previously dropped due to injury or personal reasons and their current season’s results have helped restore the ranking.
The finalists for the 2015 WTA Comeback of the Year Award are Venus Williams, Bethanie Mattek Sands, Anastasija Sevastova and Katerina Bondarenko.
Venus Williams began her season with a title in Auckland before reaching the quarter finals in the Australian Open where she lost against US teenager Madison Keys. She has returned to to the top-10 for the first time since 2011 rejoining her younger sister Serena after the quarter finals at the US Open and the two titles on Chinese soil in Wuhan and Zhuhai. The 35 year-old player has ended the year at world number 7 becoming the oldest top-10 player since 1994 when Martina Navratilova finished the season as number 8 at the age of 38.
Bethanie Mattek Sands was ranked outside the Top 250 following a hip surgery but produced a remarkable come-back in 2015 after reaching the third round in three Grand Slam tournaments (Australian Open, Wimbledon and US Open) and the quarter final in the Premier Mandatory in Beijing. Thanks to these results she has moved up to World Number 61 at the end of the year. She also won the first two Grand Slam titles in the doubles at the Australian Open and at the Roland Garros together with her teammate Lucie Safarova.
Anastasija Sevastova was forced to walk away from tennis in 2013 after a long battle against an elbow injury after reaching the 36th position in the WTA Ranking in 2011. She made her come-back this year winning two ITF Circuit titles. During the summer she reached the semifinals in Florianapolis before reaching the quarter final as a qualifier in the Kremlin Cup in Moscow after beating Karolina Pliskova.
Kateryna Bondarenko returned to the WTA Circuit after giving birth to her first child. She reached the quarter final in the WTA Tournament in Istanbul (after beating Venus Williams) before returning to the Main Draw in a Grand Slam at the US Open (where she reached the second round) for the first time since returning to the circuit. She has returned to the top 100 for the first time since 2012.
