The WTA will recognize the top performers of the 2024 season with the WTA Awards. The candidates are broken down into five categories: Player of the Year, Doubles Team of the Year, Newcomer of the Year, Most Improved Player of the Year and Comeback player of the year.
Player of the Year:
Aryna Sabalenka defended her Australian Open title and won the US Open title. She won two WTA 1000 titles in Cincinnati and Wuhan and finished runner-up in two back-to-back WTA 1000 finals in Madrid and Rome and reached the WTA 500 final in Brisbane. She recaptured the WTA number 1 Ranking in October and ended the year as the world number 1 player
Iga Swiatek won five titles in 2024, the most of any player on the WTA Tour. The Polish player won her third consecutive title at Roland Garros and four WTA 1000 titles in Doha, Indian Wells, Madrid and Rome. She became the first Polish player to win an Olympic medal in Poland with her bronze in Paris. She spent 32 weeks as the World number 1 moving her overall tally to 125 weeks (seventh on the all-time list).
Coco Gauff beat Zhen Qinwen in the final to win the WTA Finals title in Riyadh, the WTA 1000 in Beijing and the WTA 250 in Auckland, when she defended a title for the first time in her career. She became the youngest player in 18 years to beat the world number 1 (Sabalenka) and world number 2 (Swiatek) at the same event. She became the youngest player to win the WTA Finals since Maria Sharapova in 2004 and the first US player to win this tournament since Serena Williams in 2014.
Jasmine Paolini won her first WTA 1000 title in Dubai and reached two Grand Slam finals at Roland Garros and Wimbledon. She became the first Italian woman to reach the Wimbledon final and the first woman to both the Roland Garros and Wimbledon finals in the same season since Serena Williams in 2016. Paolini lost to Iga Swiatek in the French Open final and to Barbora Krejcikova in the Wimbledon title match.
She also reached the Round of 16 at the Australian Open and at the US Open achieved her best results at these Grand Slam tournaments. She became the first Italian player to qualify for the WTA Finals in ten years. She broke into the top 10 for the first time, ending the season as the world number 4 player.
Zheng Qinwen reached five finals during the 2024 season. The Chinese player won the Olympic singles gold medal in Paris, two titles at WTA 500 in Tokyo ad WTA 250 in Palermo. She finished runner-up at her first Grand Slam final at the Australian Open, at the WTA 1000 in Wuhan and at the WTA Finals in Riyadh. She broke into the top 10 after the Australian Open final and reached the top 5
Doubles team of the year:
Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe won the WTA Finals in Riyadh and the WTA 250 title in Nottingham. Dabrowki became the first Canadian player to win a WTA Finals title. They finished runner-up in four finals at Wimbledon losing to Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend, Miami, Toronto and Eastbourne and reached four semifinals at the Australian Open, Dubai, Osaka and Tokyo and two more quarter finals at the US Open and Wuhan. Dabrowski started the 2024 season at world number 8 and ended it at a career-high world number 3. Routliffe started the season at number 10 and became the first female player from New Zealand to reach world number 1 position. She held this position for seven weeks and ended the season as world number 2.
Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend teamed up for the first time at Rome 2024 and claimed the Wimbledon doubles title in their third appearance. They reached the title match at the WTA Finals in Riyadh without losing a match. They beat number 1 seeds Lyudmila Kichenok and Jelena Ostapenko and number 3 seed Hsieh-su Wei and Elise Mertens.
Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini won the Olympic gold medal in Paris, three WTA titles in Rome, Linz and Beijing, reached the final at Roland Garros, the semifinals at Miami and quarter finals in Cincinnati. They became the first Italian tennis players in history to win the Olympic gold medal beating Mirra Andreeva and Diana Schnaider in the final. They lost in the group stage on their team debut at the WTA Finals in Riyadh. They beat Coco Gauff and Erin Routliffe in the Rome WTA 1000 final At the China Open Paolini and Errani defeated Chan-Hao-ching and Veronika Kudemertova in the final becoming the first Italian doubles champions at the tournament.
Lyudmila Kichenok and Jelena Ostapenko started the season with a title in Brisbane, reached the semifinal In Adelaide and finished runner-up at the Australian Open. The Ukrainian and Latvian team won two titles in Eastbourne and the US Open and advanced to the quarter finals in Dubai, Indian Wells, Madrid, Rome and Cincinnati.
Hsieh su-Wei and Elise Mertens won three titles as a team, including their second Grand Slam as a team at the Australian Open. They also won in Indian Wells and Birmingham and reached the semifinals at Madrid and Wimbledon and the quarter finals in Doha, Miami and Rome.
Anna Danilina and Irina Khromacheva won two WTA 125 titles on Italian soil in Parma and Bari in their first tournament as a team. They went on to reach the final in Budapest and won two titles at WTA 500 in Guadalajara and WTA 250 in Hua Hin.
Comeback player of the year
Naomi Osaka gave birth to her daughter Shai in the summer of 2023 and made her come-back at the start of the 2024 season. She reached the quarter finals in Doha and s’Hertogenbosch and the Round of 16 in Rome and Beijing. She lost a close second round match to Iga Swiatek after holding a match point.
Paula Badosa ended her 2023 season after Wimbledon due to a back injury. The Spanish player made her come-back at the start of the 2024 season and achieved good results winning the fourth title of her career and the second at WTA level in Washington with a three-set win over Marie Bouzkova and reaching the semifinals at Cincinnati, Beijing and the quarter finals at the US Open losing to Emma Navarro.
Karolina Muchova returned to Eastbourne four months after undergoing wrist injury in February. The Czech player reached the finals in Palermo and Beijing and the semifinals at the US Open and Ningbo.
Amanda Anisimova took time away from tennis in May 2023 for personal reasons and made her come-back during the Australian Open, where she reached the round of 16. Anisimova lost to Jessica Pegula in three sets in the final of the WTA 1000 in Toronto and returned to the top 50.
Emma Raducanu ended the 2023 season in April and underwent surgery on her ankle and her wrists. The British player made her comeback in 2024 reaching the semifinals in Nottingham, the quarter final in Eastbourne and the Round of 16 at Wimbledon.
Newcomer of the year
Lulu Sun started the 2024 season at number 214 and reached the top 40 last September. She reached the quarter final at Wimbledon on her debut at this tournament becoming the first player from New Zealand to reach that stage at a Grand Slam tournament. She achieved her first top 10 win over Zhen Qinwen at Wimbledon. She reached her first WTA Tour level final at the WTA 500 in Monterrey.
Erika Andreeva reached the quarter final in Monterrey, where she achieved her top 20 win over world number 11 Danielle Collins. She beat her sister Mirra Andreeva in the Round of 16 at the WTA 1000 in Wuhan achieving her second top 20 win of her career.
Rebecca Stramkova won her first WTA title in Huahin and finished runner-up in Jiujang and Monastir.
ZeynaSonmez won the WTA 250 at Merida and reached the quarter final in Monastir. She achieved her first three top 50 wins and reached the top 100 for the first time in her career.
Most improved player of the year
Emma Navarro started her 2024 season with a semifinal in Auckland and her first WTA title in Hobart. The US player reached semifinals in San Diego, Bad Homburg, Toronto, Monterrey and at the US Open and her first Grand Slam quarter final at Wimbledon. She beat world number Coco Gauff at the US Open and Wimbledon and Aryna Sabalenka at Indian Wells. At the US Open she beat Paula Badosa in straight sets to reach her first Grand Slam semifinal.
Anna Kalinskaya beat Iga Swiatek to reach her first WTA 1000 final in Dubai before finishing runner-up to Jasmine Paolini in the final. She reached the final at the WTA 500 in Berlin, her first Grand Slam quarter final at the Australian Open and her second Round of 16 at Wimbledon. She beat Swiatek and Gauff at Dubai and Sabalenka in Berlin via retirement. She holds a 7-2 record against top 10 players this season. She started the season at world number 80 and achieved a top 11 last October.
She started the year at world number 31 and ended it at world number 8 after making her top 10 debut last September.
Danielle Collins won her first WTA 1000 title in Indian Wells and went on to clinch a WTA 500 title in Charleston. She came through the qualifying round to reach the quarter final in Doha and advanced to the semifinal in Rome, the final in Strasbourg and the quarter final at the Olympic Games in Paris. Collins started the season ranked world number 54 and returned to the top 10 for the first time since August 2022.
Diana Schnaider won her first four career titles on different surfaces in Hua Hin on hard court, Bad Homburg on grass, Budapest on clay and in Hong Kong on hard court. She beat Coco Gauff achieving her career-first top 10 win at the WTA 1000 in Toronto. She reached semifinals in Toronto, Seoul, Tokyo and quarter finals in Birmingham. She won the WTA 125 in Paris and reached the final at the WTA 125 in Charleston. She claimed the Olympic silver medal in doubles in Paris with Mirra Andreeva. She started the season at world number 97 and finished it at world number 13 after reaching a career-high of world number 12.
