WTA awards: Ashleigh Barty, Barbora Krejcikova, Emma Raducanu among the big winners

WTA Tour
Ashleigh Barty kisses Wimbledon trophy

World No 1 Ashleigh Barty capped off another glorious year by winning the WTA Player of the Year award for a second time while there were also gongs for Barbora Krejcikova, Emma Raducanu and Carla Suarez Navarro.

Barty started the year at the top of the WTA Rankings and finished the campaign in the same position to secure the year-end No 1 ranking for a third consecutive year.

The Australian won the most titles on the WTA Tour in 2021 as she won a second Grand Slam title, Wimbledon, while she also won two WTA 1000 events – the Miami Open and Cincinnati Open – and two WTA 500 tournaments – the Yarra Valley Classic and the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix.

US Open champion Raducanu scooped the WTA Newcomer of the Year award after her incredible breakthrough season.

The teenager became the first qualifier – man or woman – to win a Grand Slam after she won 10 matches en route to lifting the US Open trophy at Flushing Meadows.

Raducanu also reached the fourth round at Wimbledon on her major main draw debut while she finished the year at No 19 in the WTA Rankings, having started 2021 outside the world top 300.

French Open champion Krejcikova walked away with two awards as she was named WTA Most Improved Player of the Year and in the WTA Doubles Team of the Year alongside Katerina Siniakova.

Krejcikova won her maiden singles title at the Internationaux de Strasbourg in May and followed it up with a Grand Slam title at Roland Garros not long after. She also won the Prague Open and finished runner-up in Dubai.

In the doubles, Krejcikova and fellow Czech Siniakova won the French Open, gold at the Tokyo Olympics, the Madrid Open and the Gippsland Trophy while they also finished runner-up at the Australian Open.

Suárez Navarro was awarded the WTA Comeback Player of the Year title after she returned to the Tour following her battle against cancer.

After being diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma in September of last year, the Spaniard returned at the French Open and went on to also play at Wimbledon, the US Open and the Billie Jean King Cup Finals.

Ashleigh Barty Barbora Krejcikova Carla Suarez Navarro Emma Raducanu

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