World No. 1 tennis player Ash Barty is the WTA Player of the Year for 2021, marking her second time taking home the honor after winning a tour-leading five titles on the year. That includes her win at Wimbledon, which was the second Grand Slam of her career.
Barty secured her third year-end world No. 1 ranking in a row by defending her title in Miami and winning titles in Melbourne, Stuttgart and Cincinnati.
US Open champion Emma Raducanu took home Newcomer of the Year. The English tennis star became the first qualifier to win the US Open and was Britain’s first female Grand Slam champion in 44 years.
Czech player and current world No. 2 Barbora Krejcikova took home the WTA’s Most Improved Player of the Year crown after winning her first-career Grand Slam at the French Open. Prior to this season, she had not cracked the top 50 in the world.
Alongside doubles partner Katerina Siniakova, she also took home the Doubles Team of the Year award. The duo claimed their third Grand Slam as a team at Roland Garros this year.
Carla Suarez Navarro, who announced in September 2020 that she was being treated for early stage Hodgkin lymphoma, was named Comeback Player of the Year award for her return at the French Open in June.