Serena Williams Named WTA Player Of The Year

Written by: Staff on 30th November 2012

Serena Williams Named WTA Player Of The Year

epa03450628 Serena Williams of the US celebrates after winning the final match against Maria Sharapova of Russia at the WTA Championships tennis tournament in Istanbul, Turkey, 28 October 2012. EPA/STR **TURKEY OUT** |

The Serena Williams’ steamroll of all opposition in the second half of 2012, that took her to the Wimbledon, Olympic, US Open and Tour Championships titles ensured she became the WTA Player of the Year for the fourth time in her career.

Even though Victoria Azarenka ends 2012 in no.1 spot on the WTA rankings, and appeared to be unbeatable in the initial months of the year, there can be little argument that the 31 year-old American has been the best player in the world since losing in the first round of the French Open in May.

Williams previously was named Player of the Year, decided by votes from the international tennis media, in 2002, ’08 and ’09. Now only eight-time winner Steffi Graf and seven-time winner Martina Navratilova have been honored more in the 36-year history of the award.

After walking off the match court for the final time in 2012, after winning the TEB BNP Paribas WTA Championships in Istanbul a month ago, Williams declared: “I’ve always said if I’m playing well and doing everything right, it’s really difficult to beat me.

“I still believe that, which is great that I can still kind of play that way. I feel like there are always ways for me to improve, but I think it’s a true statement, without trying to sound really full of myself or anything.”

In all Serena won seven singles titles throughout the career to take her career tally to 50. With the Roland Garros defeat to Virginie Razzano still clear in everyone’s mind, she turned things around in July by winning her fifth Wimbledon title.

Soon after, winning the title in Stanford seemed a formality and then Serena didn’t drop a set en route to gold at the London Olympics. A quarterfinal loss in Cincinnati was her only disappointment in the second half of the year and Williams won the US Open title for the fourth time, battling out a memorable final with Azarenka, and taking her Grand Slam haul to 15.

Then total dominance returned in Istanbul as Serena didn’t drop a set in her five matches that took her to a fifth Championships title.

The other WTA awards were:

Comeback Player of the Year : Yaroslava Shvedova

Doubles Team of the Year: Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci

Newcomer of the Year: Laura Robson

Karen Krantzcke Sportsmanship Award : Kim Clijsters

Player Service Award : Venus Williams

Fan Favorite Singles Player: Agnieszka Radwanska

Fan Favorite Doubles Team: Serena and Venus Williams

Fan Favorite Twitter : Caroline Wozniacki

Fan Favorite Facebook : Agnieszka Radwanska

Fan Favorite Video: Agnieszka Radwanska