Amanda Anisimova, Donna Vekic, Belinda Bencic nominated for the WTA most improved player of the year

Bencic, Vekic, and Anisimova are competing against each other for Most Improved Player.

Amanda Anisimova Donna Vekic Belinda Bencic

The past tennis season has shown that there is a lot of space for younger players to perform well in the WTA Tour. Among those who are leading the charge are Belinda Bencic, Amanda Anisimova, and Donna Vekic. These three players have seen significant improvement with their performances in the past 11 months. It is for this reason that Anisimova, Bencic, and Vekic were entered into the nominees for the WTA Most Improved Player of the Year.

WTA Most Improved Player of the Year nominees

The three aforementioned players occupy half of the six slots for the WTA Most Improved Player of the Year trophy. The other three nominees are Sofia Kenin, Zheng Saisai, and Alison Riske. Riske, Anisimova and Kenin all represent the United States in the WTA Tour while Saisai (China), Bencic (Switzerland), and Vekic (Croatia) wave the flags for their respective home countries.

The WTA Most Improved Player of the Year has gone to many legends. Among those who have received the honor in the past include Steffi Graf, Martina Hingis, Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova, and Simona Halep.

Coincidentally, Bencic is also up for WTA Comeback Player of the Year. She will face off against Bethanie Mattek-Sands of the U.S. and Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia in the category.

Amanda Anisimova performance during the 2019 season

Anisimova was able to achieve her peak in the world rankings in October when she reached no. 21. This was despite her having to take a break for a few weeks when her father and coach, Konstantin, passed away. Because of her grief, she had to miss most of the North American hard court season, including the U.S. Open.

One of the highlights of her 2019 season was reaching the semifinal rounds of the French Open. She also recorded her first WTA title in April due to her victory in the Copa Colsanitas in Colombia.

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baci đź’‹

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Donna Vekic’s 2019 calendar

Meanwhile, Vekic recently spoke about how productive she has been in the past tennis season. She said that before the season started, she promised herself that she would qualify for the WTA Elite Trophy, which she successfully did.

She also reached the top 20 of the world rankings for the first time. She is currently ranked at no. 19. Furthermore, she performed well in the tournaments, including a quarterfinals finish in Flushing Meadows.

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Shades of blue 🌊

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Belinda Bencic in the 2019 WTA Tour

Lastly, Bencic had a good year after she became eligible to compete in the 2019 WTA Finals. She owed her Shenzhen entry to her reaching the world top 10 again after a few years of health issues. It was her first time to compete in Shenzhen and she was able to reach the semifinals there.

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NYC✨🌆

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Amanda Anisimova’s ranking and performance in 2019

Amanda Anisimova Stats info

Ranked no.24, the American played her last match on the 30th of September when she had to surrender to Jennifer Brady 6-74 7-62 6-3 in the 1st round in Beijing.

This year Anisimova has a 24-15 win-loss record. Anisimova clinched 1 title in Bogota.

 

Belinda Bencic’s ranking and performance in 2019

Belinda Bencic Stats info

Ranked no.8, Belinda played her last match on the 2nd of November when she surrendered to Elina Svitolina 5-7 6-3 4-1 ret. in the semifinal in Shenzhen.

This year Bencic has a 48-22 win-loss record. Belinda conquered 2 titles in 2019 in Dubai and in Moscow. Belinda was the finalist in Mallorca.

Amanda Anisimova and Belinda Bencic played each other 1 time. The head to head is 1-0 for Bencic.

The last time that they fought against each other, Belinda Bencic won 6-2 6-2 in the quarter in Mallorca on the 21st June 2019.