Garbine Muguruza named WTA Player of the Year, Jelena Ostapenko wins Most Improved award

Singapore: Spain’s Garbine Muguruza has been named the Women’s Tennis Association’s (WTA) Player of the Year after reaching number one in the rankings and winning Wimbledon. US Open champion Sloane Stephens won the Comeback Player of the Year award. The women’s tennis tour announced the annual honours on Friday. The awards are voted on by members of the media. [caption id=“attachment_4162377” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Garbine Muguruza poses with her Player of the Year trophy. Image courtesy: Twitter @GarbiMuguruza [/caption] Other recipients include French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko as Most Improved Player, CiCi Bellis as Newcomer of the Year, and Martina Hingis and Chan Yung-Jan as Doubles Team of the Year. Muguruza beat Venus Williams in the Wimbledon final in July for her second Grand Slam title, then moved up to No 1 in the rankings for the first time in September. Muguruza is only the second Spanish woman after Arantxa Sanchez Vicario to reach number one and by claiming the Wimbledon title became the first player to beat both Serena and Venus Williams in major finals, having beaten Serena to win the 2016 French Open. ”Becoming the WTA number one in the world is a dream come true,“ Muguruza told the WTA’s website. “Every birthday wish was always the same as I blew out the candles – to become the best. “There is a lot of work behind this achievement and a lot of love and passion for this sport. There’s also a lot of hard moments along with the great moments.” Muguruza is competing at the WTA Finals in Singapore next week. With inputs from agencies