Gauff, Townsend among five Americans nominated for 2024 WTA Player Awards
Five Americans were among Wednesday's nominations for the 2024 WTA Player Awards, led by Coco Gauff, who is up for Player of the Year.
Taylor Townsend and her Czech teammate Katerina Siniakova made the shortlist for Doubles Team of the Year, while Amanda Anisimova was nominated for Comeback Player of the Year. Rounding out the American interest, Emma Navarro and Danielle Collins are both up for Most Improved Player of the Year.
Gauff was nominated alongside world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, Iga Swiatek, Jasmine Paolini and Zheng Qinwen for the marquee honor. The American beat Sabalenka, Swiatek and Zheng earlier this month on her way to the WTA Finals title in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, but did not face Italy's Paolini in singles play this season.
Read more: Gauff wins 2024 WTA Finals title, first U.S. champ since Serena Williams
The 20-year-old also won a WTA 1000 trophy in Beijing and a WTA 250 in Auckland this year and reached a career-high of world No. 2 in June. She ended the season at world No. 3.
Townsend and doubles world No. 1 Siniakova are among six teams up for top doubles honors. They join Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe, Italians Sara Errani and Paolini, Lyudmyla Kichenok and Jelena Ostapenko, Hsieh Su-Wei and Elise Mertens, and Anna Danilina and Irina Khromacheva.
Coco Gauff poses with her 2024 WTA Finals singles trophy. Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images.
Townsend and Siniakova teamed up for the first time in Rome this season and won Wimbledon in their third event as a pair. They posted a 16-6 record, reaching the title match at the WTA Finals and making the US Open semis.
Anisimova was nominated alongside Naomi Osaka, Paula Badosa, Karolina Muchova and 2021 US Open champ Emma Raducanu in the Comeback Player category. The American stepped away from the WTA Tour in May 2023 for mental health reasons and made an instant impact upon her return by reaching the Australian Open fourth round. Anisimova also reached the biggest final of her career at the WTA 1000 in Toronto this summer.
Navarro and Collins will be rivaled by Diana Shnaider and Marta Kostyuk for the Most Improved Player award. Navarro rose more than 20 place in the WTA rankings this season, making her Top 10 debut in September and ending the year at world No. 8. She won her first WTA title to begin the year in Hobart and also scored her first career Top 3 wins, beating Gauff at the US Open and Wimbledon and upsetting Sabalenka in Indian Wells.
Collins also spent time in the Top 10 this year before finishing the season at world No. 11. She won the biggest title of her career on home soil at the Miami WTA 1000 and backed it up with a WTA 500 crown in Charleston. A quarterfinalist at the Paris Olympics in what was set to be her farewell season on the WTA Tour, Collins announced in October her plans to return for 2025.
For more on the 2024 WTA Player Awards, visit wtatennis.com.
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