The first five women’s tennis players were nominated for the 2024 WTA player award.
Aryna Sabalenka is the big favorite because she won two Grand Slam tournaments – Australian Open and US Open – and also finished the year in first place in the standings for the first time in her career.
Simona Halep: five matches, one victory
The Belarusian’s competition is represented by Iga Swiatek, the champion of Roland Garros, who won the most titles this year: five. The winner of the Champions Tournament, Coco Gauff, world number four, Jasmine Paolini, and the finalist at the Australian Open, Zheng Qinwen, were also nominated.
The five nominated for the „Return of the Year ” award are Naomi Osaka, Paula Badosa, Karolina Muchova, Amanda Anisimova and Emma Răducanu, the player with Romanian origins.
Simona Halep could have hoped for a nomination here as well. Romanian returned to the WTA circuit after 19 months, but had results far below expectations. Tormented by medical problems, Simona Halep won only one victory in 2024, being defeated four times.
Osaka, a four-time Grand Slam winner, returned to WTA in January, after more than a year of absence, during which time her daughter, Shai, was born. Osaka had collapsed in the standings, reached somewhere on the 800th WTA, but will end the year on the 59th place.
Emma Răducanu finishes the year in the Top 60 WTA
Paula Badosa struggled with an injury last year and at one point came out of the Top 100 WTA, but enjoyed an incredible second half of the season and will start 2025 in 12th place.
Karolina Muchova underwent wrist surgery in February, but returned to the field a few months later. She reached the final in Palermo and the semifinals at the US Open, while Anisimova returned to the circuit after the sabbatical year of 2023. The American finished second in its first WTA 1000 final in Canada.
Emma Răducanu missed the second half of the 2023 season, being operated on both wrists and an ankle. After a slow return at the beginning of the year, she found shape on the grass, reaching the semifinals in Nottingham, quarterfinals in Eastbourne and eighths in Wimbledon. British started the year at 301 and finished at 58.
Lulu Sun, Erika Andreeva, Rebecca Sramkova, Zeynep Sonmez and Sonay Kartal are in the race for the award that will be given to the revelation of the year.
