Novak Djokovic blew his rivals out of the water in Express Sport’s reader-voted tennis awards as Carlos Alcaraz was left red-faced, coming in third place for ATP Player of the Year. World No 1 Iga Swiatek came out on top on the WTA side with Coco Gauff missing out while Ben Shelton and Elina Svitolina were also acknowledged for their impressive runs in 2023.
With the off-season now well and truly in full swing, Express Sport readers have crowned their award winners for 2023. It was a dominant season for Djokovic, who won three of the four Grand Slam titles and only lost seven matches all season. It therefore came as no surprise that Djokovic was named the clear ATP Player of the Year with 64 per cent backing the Serb.
There was some embarrassment for Alcaraz who, despite winning his second Grand Slam title at Wimbledon, didn’t even come second. Jannik Sinner received 19 per cent of votes with the Spaniard close behind on 16 per cent. Swiatek was also arguably an obvious choice for WTA Player of the Year, getting 47 per cent of votes.
It was a learning curve season for the 22-year-old, who relinquished the No 1 ranking for the first time before snatching it back at the 11th hour with her victory at the WTA Finals. She also won her fourth Grand Slam title at the French Open, successfully defending her crown from last year. Gauff missed out on the top player award, coming in second place with 27 per cent of readers making her their pick.
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The 19-year-old won her maiden Slam title at the US Open this year to cap off an incredible North American hard-court summer which also saw her win Cincinnati and Washington, losing just one match in that stretch. Aryna Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina were awarded match of the year for the Australian Open final, won by the Belarusian 4-6 6-3 6-4.
Another Grand Slam final was branded the best contest on the men’s side, with Alcaraz’s epic five-set victory over Djokovic at Wimbledon receiving the accolade. The 20-year-old became the first man in a decade to beat the Serb on Centre Court when he won 1-6 7-6(6) 6-1 3-6 6-4. Ben Shelton was named the breakout player of the year after his runs to the US Open semi-final and Australian Open quarter-final.
He also picked up his maiden title at the Tokyo ATP 500. Elina Svitolina won comeback of the year, falling outside of the world’s top 1000 when she returned from pregnancy before winning the title in Strasbourg, reaching the Wimbledon semi-final by upsetting Swiatek and making the French Open quarters.
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Check out the full Express Sport reader-voted end-of-season tennis award winners below
ATP Player of the Year
WINNER: Novak Djokovic
Second place: Jannik Sinner
Third place: Carlos Alcaraz
Fourth place: Daniil Medvedev
WTA Player of the Year
WINNER: Iga Swiatek
Second place: Coco Gauff
Third place: Aryna Sabalenka
Fourth place: Elena Rybakina
ATP Match of the Year
WINNER: Alcaraz d. Djokovic Wimbledon final
Second place: Djokovic d. Alcaraz Cincinnati final
Third place: Sinner d. Alcaraz Miami semi-final
Fourth place: Murray d. Kokkinakis Australian Open second round
WTA Match of the Year
WINNER: Sabalenka d. Rybakina Australian Open final
Second place: Jabeur d. Sabalenka Wimbledon semi-final
Third place: Sabalenka d. Swiatek Madrid final
Fourth place: Swiatek d. Muchova French Open final
Breakout Player of the Year
WINNER: Ben Shelton
Second place: Mirra Andreeva
Joint third place: Qinwen Zheng and Arthur Fils
Comeback Player of the Year
WINNER: Elina Svitolina
Second place: Gael Monfils
Third place: Marketa Vondrousova
Fourth place: Nicolas Jarry
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