Polish Tennis player Iga Swiatek has retained the No.1 position in women’s tennis this year. she won the title of Best Female Player of the Year (2023) from the World Tennis Association (WTA) on Monday. Swiatek became the second female tennis star to win this title for two consecutive years. Earlier, American star player Serena Williams received this honor for four times.

WTA Awards 2023

The Women’s Tennis Association is the organizing body for women’s tennis players. The WTA annually announces the winners of the annual WTA Awards 2023. The award honors the best performers and contributors in women’s tennis.

• The WTA honoured Storm Hunter and Elise Mertens as Doubles Team of the Year.
• Zheng Qinwen was named  Improved Player of the Year.
• Mirra Andreeva was awarded the WTA Newcomer of the Year.
• Elina Svitolina received Comeback Player of the Year award.
• Ons Jabeur received the Karen Krantzcke Sportsmanship Award and the Peachy Kellmeyer Player Service Award.
• Jerry Diamond ACES prize was awarded to Jessica Pegula, and Tomasz Wiktorowski, coach of Swiatek, got the Coach of the Year award.

Runners for the title

On November 19, the WTA announced the names of the Player of the Year. Besides, Iga Swiatek, Aryna Sabalenka, Coco Gauff, Jessica Pegula, Elena Rybakina, and Marketa Vondrousova were selected as WTA nominees for Player of the Year 2023.

Iga: Back-to-back unbeatable winner

Serena Williams won the World Tennis Association’s Women’s Player of the Year award four years in a row, from 2012 to 2015. And Swiatek, who won the Women’s Tennis Player of the Year title, went 68-11 in 2023 with a tour-leading six titles.

She also became the French Open champion in June. It was Iga Swiatek’s third victory at Roland Garros and fourth Grand Slam title for the Polish tennis star.

Notably, from April 2022 to September this year, she remained the number 1 position in the women’s world tennis rankings. However, Swiatek regained the WTA titles in November. The 22-year-old tennis star from Poland is unbeaten in her last two tournaments this season. She won two WTA finals last month. The first is in Cancun, and the second is in Mexico. Her undefeated run at the WTA Finals in Cancun allowed her to overtake Aryna Sabalenka atop the rankings.

Controversy around Swiatek’s Victory

Swiatek won the title, while Sabalenka and Gauff finished second and third, respectively, in the year-end rankings. The duo had a tough compitition in 2023 against world No. 1.

Tennis fans have expressed mixed opinions about the Player of the Year award winner.

On December 11, WTA officially posted a video on its social media channel. While one user commented, “Ridiculous! Have you heard of Aryna Sablenka, who performed well across the different surfaces? made semi-finals from Gs to Gs WTA finals!”

But most of them agreed with the WTA’s decision. An user wrote in a comment section, “Best discussion, future GOAT!”