Iga Swiatek, Serena Williams and Ons Jabeur headline the nominations for WTA Awards 2022

Iga Swiatek, Serena Williams and Ons Jabeur headline the nominations for WTA Awards 2022

Iga Swiatek, Serena Williams and Ons Jabeur nominated for WTA Awards 2022

The Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) has announced the nominees for the WTA Awards 2022 in various categories. In the following three weeks, the best players in various categories shall be announced.

The WTA Awards categories include Player of the Year, Doubles Team of the Year, Newcomer of the Year, Most Improved Player of the Year, and the Comeback Player of the Year. Soon, the honorary members of the international tennis media shall vote and their verdict will be announced in an award ceremony.

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The WTA in a social media post announced the nominees for this year’s Best Player Award.

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Within a few weeks, the names of the players who win the WTA Awards will be announced. Till then, the world will hold its breath.

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WTA Awards 2022- Meet the final contenders

Jule Niemeier, Donna Vekic, Elena Rybakina, Beatriz Haddad Maia and Barbora Krejcikova (From Left to Right)

The World No.1 Iga Swiatek of Poland is the frontrunner to win the 2022 WTA Best Player Award. She won 8 singles titles this year including the US Open and the French Open titles. She is followed by World No.2 Ons Jabeur. She made history this season by becoming the first African and Arab woman to play the Championship match of a Grand Slam when she played in the final of the 2022 Wimbledon. Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan is also nominated in this category for her performance at Wimbledon.

Jessica Pegula and Coco Gauff are nominated for both the Best Player Award and the Best doubles team award categories in the 2022 WTA Awards. Jessica Pegula won the first WTA 1000 tournament this season by winning the Guadalajara Open, late in the season. She also played splendidly in all the major tournaments. Coco Gauff stunned the world when she became the finalist of the 2022 French Open. The American pair together played in the final of the 2022 French Open. The 2022 WTA Finals winner Caroline Garcia of France is also a contender to win the coveted award.

The WTA Doubles Team Award category of the WTA Awards 2022 has some interesting nominations. The All-Czech duo of Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova are the front-runners for this award. They won the Australian Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open women’s doubles titles. They also completed the career Golden Slam this year and became the second team in WTA history to accomplish this.

The Belgian-Russian pair Elise Mertens and Veronika Kudermetova won the 2022 WTA Finals trophy at Fort Worth. The Canadian-Mexican pair of Gabriela Dabrowski and Guiliana Olmos won the Madrid Open and Japan Tennis Championships this year. The Ukrainian-Latvian pair of Lyudmyla Kichenok and Jelena Ostapenko won the Cincinnati Masters and the Birmingham Classic this year to get their names as nominees.

Another important category in the 2022 WTA Awards is the WTA Newcomer of the Year Award. Many wonderful players saw their rise on the big occasion. The Chinese Qinwen Zheng jumped 100 places in the WTA rankings on the back of her superior performances throughout the season. Another Czech player on the list Linda Fruhvirtova is the youngest WTA title winner when she won the Chennai Open at the age of 17 years.

The German Jule Niemeier stunned Anett Kontaveit in the second round of the Wimbledon and reached the quarter-finals round of the tournament. Mayar Sherif is another promising player on the list. She won 3 WTA 125 tournaments and Parma Ladies Open. Harriet Dart of the USA breached into the Top 100 this year on account of her excellent performances. The Brazilian player Laura Pigossi made it to the Top 100 this year.

The most fascinating award category in the 2022 WTA Awards is the WTA Most Improved Player Award. Veronika Kudermetova of the Czech Republic breached into the Top 10 on the back of her consistent performances throughout the season. Beatriz Haddad Maia of Brazil won both the tournaments in Nottingham and Birmingham, one after another, the first woman to do so. She also finished the season in the Top 20. The Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova won at s’-Hertogenbosch and Seoul to win the nomination in this category. The Russian tennis player Liudmila Samsonova performed very well to breach into the Top 20 and win the nomination for this category. Ajla Tomljanovic of Australia finished the season in the Top 50.

The 2022 WTA Awards category of WTA Comeback Player Award saw nominations from some big names. Serena Williams came back after one year into the 2022 Wimbledon and reached the semi-final of the Eastbourne International tournament with Ons Jabeur. Donna Vekic of Croatia had to sit out for three months due to a knee injury but performed well to breach the Top 50. Daria Saville of the USA had a tough 2021 season but performed extremely well this season. Tatjana Maria of Germany came back to play in the Wimbledon semi-final.

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