Sabalenka wins WTA Player of the Year

ST PETERSBURG, Florida (AP):

ARYNA SABALENKA received the WTA Player of the Year award for the first time on Monday after winning two Grand Slam titles and finishing 2024 at number one in the rankings.

In other results of voting by tennis media, Emma Navarro was honoured as Most Improved Player, Paula Badosa was named Comeback Player, Lulu Sun was Newcomer of the Year, and Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini were picked as the Doubles Team of the Year.

Sabalenka, a 26-year-old from Belarus, won the Australian Open in January and the US Open in September, along with two other titles this season, going 56-14 with nearly US$10 million in prize money. She overtook Iga Swiatek for the top ranking in October.

Navarro made her debut in the WTA’s top 10 in September after making her deepest Grand Slam run at the US Open, where she eliminated defending champion Coco Gauff in the fourth round before losing to Sabalenka in the semifinals.

The 23-year-old Navarro, who grew up in South Carolina and won the 2021 NCAA singles championship at the University of Virginia, won her first tour title at Hobart, Australia, in January, and moved from number 32 in the rankings at the start of 2024 to number eight at the end.

Badosa sat out the last half of 2023 with a back injury but the 27-year-old Spaniard was back near the top of the sport this year, climbing to number 12 in the rankings, winning the title in Washington and equalling her best result at a Grand Slam tournament by getting to the US Open quarterfinals.

Sun went from outside the top 200 in the rankings to a career-best number 39, highlighted by a quarterfinal showing as a qualifier at Wimbledon in July and a runner-up finish at the Monterrey Open in August. Sun, 23, was born in New Zealand, grew up in Switzerland and helped the University of Texas win an NCAA team championship.

Errani and Paolini won a doubles gold medal for Italy at the Paris Olympics and helped their country win the Billie Jean King Cup. They also reached the French Open doubles final together. In singles, Paolini was the runner-up at both the French Open and Wimbledon.