Emma Raducanu is up for a WTA comeback player award (Image: Getty)
and fellow British star Sonay Kartal have both been nominated for top prizes in the WTA Player Awards.
The 2021 US Open champion is up for Comeback Player of the Year after returning from triple surgery ranked outside of the top 300 and climbing back into the top 60.
But fans aren’t happy with one of the picks, as Jasmine Paolini has been snubbed from the Most Improved category.
With the WTA season officially over for 2024, the women’s tour has revealed their list of nominations for the annual Player Awards. Members of the international tennis media will vote for their winners from the shortlist.
Raducanu has been named in the comeback category after making her return in January. She was ranked No. 301 in the world when she came back at the start of the year. Since then, she’s risen to No. 58.
Her season has been highlighted by a run to the second week of , a semi-final appearance in Nottingham and quarter-final showings in Stuttgart, Eastbourne, Washington and Seoul.
But she has some stiff competition as the comeback section is packed. Paula Badosa has also been nominated after a back injury derailed her career, with doctors telling her to stop playing.
Sonay Kartal is up for for newcomer award (Image: Getty)
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After falling out of the top 100, she ends the year as the world No. 12 after winning the title in Washington, reaching multiple WTA 1000 semi-finals and getting to the US Open quarter-final.
is also up after making a return from pregnancy, while Karolina Muchova and Amanda Anisimova round out the shortlist.
British No. 3 Kartal has been nominated for Newcomer of the Year. She reached a career-high of No. 87 after winning her maiden title in Monastir and reaching the third round of .
But the Most Improved Player of the Year category has caused a stir, as Paolini has not been nominated. The WTA defines the nominees as those who finished inside the top 100 and showed significant improvement this season.
The Italian went from being a top 30 player to finishing as year-end No. 4. Paolini had never been beyond the second round of a Grand Slam tournament before this year but she made back-to-back finals at the French Open and . She also won the title in Dubai.
Fans believe Jasmine Paolini should’ve been nominated for most improved (Image: Getty)
In doubles, she won Olympic gold with Sara Errani. And Paolini capped off a stellar year by helping Italy win the Billie Jean King Cup. Fans have been baffled not to see her shortlisted for most improved, though she is up for Player and Doubles Team of the Year.
“It’s hard to make a decision so bad in these usually controversial awards that literally everyone disagrees with it. The WTA pulled that off by not nominating Paolini for most improved player,” @TennisUpdates24 tweeted.
@qxartararo wrote: “none of these players have improved more in 2024 than paolini, she deserved to be there as well.”
Others pointed out that another nominee had already been successful in the past. “No way Paolini is not in improved but Collins is,” @ninjaga20 said.
“I’d remove Danielle Collins & replace it with Jasmine Paolini in a heartbeat for the most improved player nominations. She deserves to win this award. Collins was an AO Finalist and Top 10 player in 2022 already, while Paolini had never been past Round 2 of a major before 2024,” @vanshv2k explained.
The full list of WTA Player Award nominees
WTA Player of the Year
Jasmine Paolini
Aryna Sabalenka
Zheng Qinwen
WTA Doubles Team of the Year
Gabriela Dabrowski / Erin Routliffe
Anna Danilina / Irina Khromacheva
Hsieh Su-Wei / Elise Mertens
Lyudmyla Kichenok / Jelena Ostapenko
Sara Errani / Jasmine Paolini
Katerina Siniakova / Taylor Townsend
WTA Most Improved Player of the Year – Player who finished inside the Top 100 and showed significant improvement throughout the season
Danielle Collins
Anna Kalinskaya
Marta Kostyuk
Emma Navarro
Diana Shnaider
WTA Newcomer of the Year – Player who made Top 100 debut and/or notable accomplishments during the season
Erika Andreeva
Sonay Kartal
Zeynep Sonmez
Rebecca Sramkova
Lulu Sun
WTA Comeback Player of the Year – Player whose ranking previously dropped due to injury or personal reasons and current season’s results helped restore ranking
Amanda Anisimova
Paula Badosa
Karolina Muchova
Naomi Osaka