Williams, Djokovic and The Bryan’s Named 2013 ITF World Champions

Written by: Bob Larson Tennis on 18th December 2013

Williams, Djokovic and The Bryan's Named 2013 ITF World Champions

epa03917657 YEARENDER 2013 JANUARY Serena Williams of the USA celebrates winning her match against Garbine Muguruza of Spain, in round two of the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, 17 January 2013. EPA/JOE CASTRO AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND OUT |

The ITF announced today that Serena Williams of the United States and Novak Djokovic of Serbia are the 2013 ITF World Champions. Williams is named Women’s World Champion for the fourth time, while this is the third successive year that Djokovic has received the honor.

Americans Bob and Mike Bryan are named Men’s Doubles World Champions for the tenth time in 11 years, while Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci of Italy become Women’s Doubles World Champions for the second successive year.

Switzerland’s Belinda Bencic and Alexander Zverev of Germany are named ITF Junior World Champions, while the ITF Wheelchair World Champions are Aniek van Koot of Netherlands and Japan’s Shingo Kunieda, who becomes men’s champion for the fifth time.

The ITF’s selection of its senior World Champions is based on an objective system that considers all results during the year, but gives special weight to the Grand Slam tournaments, and two ITF international team competitions, Davis Cup by BNP Paribas and Fed Cup by BNP Paribas.

The ITF World Champions will receive their awards at the ITF World Champions Dinner on Tuesday 3 June, in Paris, during Roland Garros.

Serena Williams is named Women’s World Champion for the second straight year after reclaiming the year-end world No. 1 ranking for the first time since 2009. The 32-year-old was almost invincible in 2013, winning 78 of 82 singles matches played, and a career-best 11 titles. She captured two Grand Slam titles, at Roland Garros and the US Open, to stand at 17 career majors, and went on to win the year-end WTA Championships.

Novak Djokovic narrowly edges out Rafael Nadal to become Men’s World Champion thanks to his consistency at the Grand Slam tournaments and year-end performances. The 26-year-old won his third successive Australian Open title, and was a finalist at Wimbledon and the US Open and a semi-finalist at Roland Garros. He won seven titles during the year, including the ATP World Tour Finals, and was unbeaten in seven singles rubbers as Serbia reached the Davis Cup Final.

Djokovic said: “It is an honor to be named ITF World Champion for the third year running. I’ve had a great 2013 season, and managed to end the year on a high. This will definitely serve as a good platform for 2014.”

ITF President Francesco Ricci Bitti said: “Serena Williams demonstrated once again why she is one of the greatest athletes of all time, and is a worthy winner of the women’s award. The men’s award was more closely contested, but our criteria rewards players for their performances at the Grand Slam tournaments and in our team competitions. Rafael Nadal made a remarkable comeback from injury with two Grand Slam wins, but it is Novak Djokovic’s consistent results across all four Slams, Davis Cup and the ATP World Tour Finals that see him named World Champion.”

Bob and Mike Bryan are named Men’s Doubles World Champions for the tenth time after a spectacular year in which they narrowly failed to complete the Grand Slam. Victories at the Australian Open, Roland Garros and Wimbledon saw the brothers hold all four majors at the same time, before they lost in the semifinals in New York. They won 11 events during 2013, to improve their all-time records to 15 Grand Slam titles and 93 titles in total.

Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci are the first pair since 2008 to be named Women’s Doubles World Champions in consecutive years. The Italians’ year was highlighted by three titles together, including the Australian Open, and they went on to lead their country to victory in Fed Cup by BNP Paribas. They were also finalists at Roland Garros, and ended the year co-ranked No. 1 on the WTA Doubles Rankings.

Belinda Bencic is only the third Swiss player, after Roger Federer and Martina Hingis, to be named ITF World Champion in any category after securing the year-end No. 1 girls ranking. The 16-year-old was unbeaten until late July, winning 39 straight matches and two Grand Slam titles, at Roland Garros and Wimbledon. She was also a quarterfinalist at the US Open and ended the year with six titles and an overall 42-2 singles win loss record.

Alexander Zverev is also only the third player from his country, after Boris Becker and Steffi Graf, to be named ITF World Champion after becoming the youngest year-end boys’ No. 1 since 2005. The 16-year-old was the most consistent performer on the ITF Junior Circuit, winning two singles titles and reaching three other finals including Roland Garros. He is the brother of tennis professional Mischa.

Shingo Kunieda becomes Men’s Wheelchair World Champion for the fifth time after regaining the year-end world No. 1 ranking. The 29-year-old reached the finals of all three Grand Slam singles events in 2013, winning his 14th major title at the Australian Open. He also won the season-ending NEC Wheelchair Tennis Masters to finish the year with a total of seven titles and a 41-7 win-loss record.

Aniek van Koot follows her compatriot Esther Vergeer as Women’s Wheelchair World Champion, having come out on top in a year-long battle with Germany’s Sabine Ellerbrock for the No. 1 ranking. The 23-year-old captured two of the three Grand Slam singles titles, at the Australian Open and US Open, and also achieved the doubles Grand Slam with another Dutchwoman Jiske Griffioen. She also led Netherlands to victory in the BNP Paribas World Team Cup.

Topics: 10sballs, ATP World Tour Finals, Bob Bryan, Boris Becker, Itf, Martina Hingis, Mike Byan, Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Roberta Vinci, Roger Federer, Sara Errani, Serena Williams, Shingo Kunieda, Sports, Tennis, Tennis News

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