LADIES TENNIS NEWS – 2015 WTA PLAYER & TOURNAMENT AWARD WINNERS, SERENA WILLIAMS TAKES THE BIG ONE & SISTER VENUS IS THE COMEBACK PLAYER OF THE YEAR

Written by: Staff on 8th December 2015

LADIES TENNIS NEWS - 2015 WTA PLAYER & TOURNAMENT AWARD WINNERS, SERENA WILLIAMS TAKES THE BIG ONE & SISTER VENUS IS THE COMEBACK PLAYER OF THE YEAR

epa04921200 Venus Williams of the US hits a return to Serena Williams of the US during their quarterfinals match on the ninth day of the 2015 US Open Tennis Championship at the USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, New York, USA, 08 September 2015. The US Open runs through 13 September, which is a return to a 14-day schedule. EPA/JOHN G. MABANGLO |

2015 WTA PLAYER AND TOURNAMENT/AWARD WINNERS ANNOUNCED

Serena Williams earns “Player of the Year” honors; Hingis/Mirza earn “Doubles Team of the Year”

Strong line-up of inspirational players reflect successful inaugural year of “Power to Inspire” brand campaign

The Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) announced today the winners of the annual Year-End Awards – headlined by Player of the Year, Serena Williams, and Doubles Team of the Year, Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza, as voted by members of the media and one collective fan vote.

Player of the Year: Serena Williams (USA)

· Wins Player of the Year award for seventh time in her career (2002, 2008-09, 2012-15)

· Year-end No.1 for the fifth time in career and third consecutive year (2013-15); held the No.1 ranking for every week throughout the 2015 season

· Finished the season with a 53-3 record winning WTA-leading five titles in 2015 including three Grand Slam titles (Australian Open, Roland Garros and Wimbledon) to take her career total to 21 Grand Slam singles titles

· In addition, won eighth title at Miami and third consecutive title at Cincinnati; career singles titles now stand at 69

· Finished the season with over $10,582,642 in prize money

Doubles Team of the Year: Martina Hingis (SUI)/Sania Mirza (IND)

· Ended the year as the No.1 doubles team after first teaming up at 2015 Indian Wells

· Mirza became the first Indian player to reach the No.1 ranking in April and remained at the top through the end of the year; Hingis finished the season at No.2

· The pair won nine doubles titles throughout the season including Wimbledon and the US Open (lost only one set in both title runs) in addition to Indian Wells, Miami, Charleston, Guangzhou, Wuhan and Beijing

· Qualified for the WTA Finals in Singapore for the first time as a team; won title (d. Muguruza/Suarez Navarro in the final)

Most Improved Player of the Year: Timea Bacsinszky (SUI)

Player who finished inside the Top 100 and showed significant improvement throughout the 2015 season

· Improved +36 spots from end of 2014 (No.48 to No.12)

· Breakthrough year saw the Swiss advance to first Grand Slam semifinal at Roland Garros, defeating No.16 Keys and No.4 Kvitova en route; lost to eventual champion S.Williams

· Won second and third career singles titles in back-to-back weeks at Acapulco and Monterrey (d. Garcia in both finals)

· Broke into the Top 10 (No.10) for the first time on October 12 on the back of finals appearance at Beijing (l. Muguruza); was first Premier Mandatory final

Newcomer of the Year: Daria Gavrilova (RUS)

Player who made Top 100 debut or notable accomplishments during the 2015 season, and prior to current year, had not played in more than 6 main draw events at tour-level in a single season

· Finished 2015 at No.36; achieved career-high ranking of No.35 on October 5

· Jumped +197 spots from the end of 2014 (No.233 to No.36)

· Highlight of 2015 season was semifinal run at Rome – qualified and defeated Bencic, Bacsinszky and Ivanovic before falling to No.3 Sharapova

· Finished season with 44-23 record including three Top 10 wins (No.2 Sharapova at Miami, No.7 Ivanovic at Rome and No.7 Safarova at Toronto)

Comeback Player of the Year: Venus Williams (USA)

Player whose ranking previously dropped due to injury or personal reasons and current season’s results helped restore ranking

· The seven-time Grand Slam champion has made several comebacks in her illustrious career, but 2015 saw her return to the Top 10 for the first time since April 2011

· At 35 years old, she became the oldest woman to feature in the Top 10 since Martina Navratilova, who was 38 years old in 1995

· First diagnosed with Sjögren’s syndrome in 2011, the American has captured three titles this season – at Auckland, Wuhan and Zhuhai – the first time she has won multiple titles in a year since 2010

· Posted seven Top 10 wins this season

· Finished the season at No.7 – her highest year-end finish since 2010 (No.5)

WTA players voted for one of their peers to earn the Peachy Kellmeyer Player Service award and the Karen Krantzcke Sportsmanship award, as well as the Tournament of the Year awards.

Peachy Kellmeyer Player Service: Lucie Safarova (CZE)

Awarded each year to the player who has done the most for their fellow players. The player can be acknowledged for their efforts made through the Player Council or any other initiative on behalf of the general player population. This award has been voted on by players since 1977. Previous winners include Kim Clijsters, Liezel Huber, Nicole Pratt, Francesca Schiavone, Pam Shriver and Venus Williams. Safarova won the award in 2014, as well.

Karen Krantzcke Sportsmanship: Petra Kvitova (CZE)

Awarded to the player who conducts herself in a manner fitting of a professional sports figure and observes the rules of fair play, shows respect for others and is gracious on and off the court. This award has been voted on by players since 1978. Past winners include Kim Clijsters, Elena Dementieva, Ana Ivanovic, Lindsay Davenport, Chris Evert and Evonne Goolagong-Cawley. Kvitova won the award in 2014, as well.

2015 PREMIER TOURNAMENTS OF THE YEAR

· Premier Mandatory: BNP Paribas Open – Indian Wells

· Premier 5: Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships

· Premier: Porsche Tennis Grand Prix – Stuttgart

2015 INTERNATIONAL TOURNAMENTS OF THE YEAR

· Americas: Abierto Mexicano – Acapulco

· Europe/Middle East/Africa: Collector Swedish Open – Bastad

· Asia-Pacific: ASB Classic – Auckland

Details About The WTA

The WTA is the global leader in women’s professional sport with more than 2,500 players representing 92 nations competing for a record $129 million in prize money at the WTA’s 55 events and four Grand Slams in 33 countries. Nearly 5.4 million fans attended women’s tennis events in 2014 with millions more watching on television and digital channels around the world. The 2015 WTA competitive season concludes with the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global, from October 23-November 1, 2015 and the Huajin Securities WTA Elite Trophy Zhuhai from November 2-8, 2015. Further information on the WTA can be found at www.wtatennis.com; facebook.com/WTA and twitter.com/WTA.

Topics: Daria Gavrilova, Ladies tennis, Lucie Safarova, Martina Hingis, Petra Kvitova, Sania Mirza, Serena Williams, Tennis News, Timea Bacsinszky, Venus Williams, Wta

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December 8, 2015 at 10:16 am

Ladies #Tennis News- 2015 @WTA Player & Tournament Award Winners, #Serena Takes The Big One & Sister Venus Is The…
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