Sportskeeda Tennis Awards 2014: Players of the Year - Female

It has been quite an exciting year for women’s tennis in 2014. A lot of youngsters had great results on the big stage and will be looking to win a lot more titles next year.The results by the top 5 players have been quite consistent this year, which is something that is not usually seen in women’s tennis. We do see familiar faces at the first and second spot on this list, but with a lot of new players coming into the fray, how long will these two players be able to dominate women’s tennis? Let us wait and watch.

#5 Eugenie Bouchard

Eugenie Bouchard surprised quite a few tennis pundits with her performances at the Majors this year.

She made it further than anyone else from Canada ever has at Wimbledon, by reaching the finals. She reached the semifinals at both the Australian Open and the French Open.

She also became the first WTA player to make the semifinals of the first three Grand Slams of the season since Dinara Safina in 2009, and guaranteed her first ever top 10 WTA ranking following the tournament.

Summary

Grand Slams – Runner up at Wimbledon

WTA Tour Titles – 1

#4 Petra Kvitova

Petra Kvitova, the 24-year-old from Czech Republic, continued to impress everybody with her performances this year. She might not have performed well at the Australian Open, French Open or the US Open, but she did win Wimbledon for the second time in her career.

She performed well on tour, as she notched up two other titles. The icing on the cake for Kvitova was to have won the Fed Cup with Czech Republic for the third time in four years.

Summary

Grand Slams – 1(Wimbledon)

WTA Tour Titles – 1

Winner of the Fed Cup

#3 Simona Halep

Simona Halep faced a lot of problems earlier on in her career and critics started to write her off. But she proved them wrong and how, as she produced some brilliant results this year.

Halep handed Serena Williams one of the worst defeats of her career at the WTA finals. The Romanian also reached her first Grand Slam final at the French Open where she lost to Maria Sharapova.

She also reached the quarter-finals of the Australian Open and the semifinals of Wimbledon. She was ranked 63 in 2013 and is currently ranked No. 3 in the world.

Summary

Grand Slams – Runner up at French Open

WTA Tour Titles – 1

Semifinalist at WTA Tour Finals

#2 Maria Sharapova

Maria Sharapova came back strongly in 2014 after missing a lot of tournaments last year due to recurring shoulder problems. She regained her No. 2 position this year after a string of good results.

Her campaign did not start off too well as she was knocked out in the fourth round at the Australian Open. But she bounced back to win the Stuttgart Open and the Mutua Madrid Open in a span of two months. Her biggest breakthrough came when she won her second French Open title by defeating Simona Halep in a tight three-set match.

The Russian also went on to win the China Open later in the year, defeating Petra Kvitova in the final.

Summary

Grand Slams – 1 (French Open)

WTA Tour Titles – 3

#1 Serena Williams

It is no surprise to see Serena Williams once again top the list for the best player of the year. She has continued to dominate the women’s circuit, and with the way she ended the year, we could see her dominating for many more years to come.

Her performances at Grand Slams leading up to the US Open were shocking to say the least. She failed to reach the quarter-final stage at the Australian Open, French Open and Wimbledon. Nevertheless, she made amends by winning seven titles on the tour. The American won her 18th Grand Slam at the US Open and the season-ending WTA Tour Finals.

She ended the year as the World No. 1.

Summary

Grand Slams – 1 (US Open)

WTA Tour Titles – 7

Winner of the WTA Tour Finals