St. Petersburg (USA): World No.1 tennis star from Poland Iga Swiatek’s has been named the WTA Player of the Year for the first time as WTA award winners announced.
Swiatek, who won Newcomer of the Year in 2020, had an outstanding season in 2022. She was crowned champion at eight tournaments, including winning six events in a row and a 37-match winning streak.
The eight titles won by Swiatek are — two Grand Slams, at Roland Garros and the US Open, WTA 1000 titles at the Qatar Open (Doha), BNP Paribas Open (Indian Wells), the Miami Open (Rome) and WTA 500 titles at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix (Stuttgart) and the San Diego Open.
Overall, the Pole tennis star won 67 matches this season.
Besides Swiatek, the doubles team of Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova, were among the WTA award winners announced Monday.
Krejcikova and doubles World No.1 Siniakova were awarded the Doubles Team of the Year for the second season in a row and third time overall.
The Czech pairing won three titles in 2022, all coming at the majors — the Australian Open, Wimbledon and the US Open. They also reached the title match at the WTA Finals.
Their title in New York secured them the career Grand Slam, a feat achieved by only six other doubles teams.
Beatriz Haddad Maia bagged the Most Improved Player of the Year award, becoming the first Brazilian woman to win a WTA Player Awards since they were introduced in 1977.
She broke into the Top 20 for the first time following her run to the final at the WTA 1000 National Bank Open presented by Rogers (Toronto) in August and went on to post a new-career high ranking of No.15 as part of a memorable season.
Zheng Qinwen of China has been awarded Newcomer of the Year while Germany’s Tatjana Maria has been named the Comeback Player of the Year.
