LONDON — Novak Djokovic and Aryna Sabalenka were honoured as the International Tennis Federation´s 2023 ITF World Champions after being the only singles players to reach at least the semifinals at all four Grand Slam tournaments this season.
Djokovic, who finished at No. 1 in the ATP rankings for a record-extending eighth time, won the Australian Open, French Open and US Open to raise his major trophy total to a men´s-leading 24 and was the runner-up at Wimbledon. He went 56-7 and led the men´s tour with seven titles.
This is his eighth ITF World Champion award, also a record, AP reported.
Sabalenka received the honor for the first time after winning the Australian Open for her first Grand Slam title, finishing as the runner-up at the US Open and making it to the semifinals at the French Open and Wimbledon.
Sabalenka made her debut at No. 1 in the WTA rankings in September, before finishing the year at No. 2 behind Iga Swiatek, the WTA Player of the Year.
Other ITF World Champions included Storm Hunter and Elise Mertens in women´s doubles, Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury in men´s doubles, Diede de Groot in the women´s wheelchair category, Alfie Hewett in the men´s wheelchair category, Niels Vink in the quad wheelchair category, and Alina Korneeva and Joao Fonseca in the juniors categories.
ITF World Champion selections place extra emphasis on Grand Slam events and ITF international team competitions.
Jannik Sinner has been selected by peers as the Most Improved Player of the Year. It is the Italian’s second ATP Award of 2023 after he won the Fans’ Favourite Award.
The Italian entered the 2023 season at No. 15 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, having clinched six tour-level trophies. With hype surrounding the 22-year-old, Sinner went from strength to strength in 2023, meeting and even exceeding lofty expectations.
The 22-year-old claimed four tour-level titles, including his maiden ATP Masters 1000 crown in Toronto, and reached the Nitto ATP Finals championship match. He also won the Davis Cup title with Italy, rose to a career-high No. 4 and advanced to his first major semi-final at Wimbledon.
By going 64-15, he set an Open Era record for most wins by an Italian player in a single season.
Sinner earned a personal-best 13 Top 10 wins in 2023, including two victories against World No. 1 Djokovic and two wins against Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz. He had clinched nine Top 10 wins across the preceding three seasons.
“I think, especially the second half of the year, mentally I was much, much stronger,” said Sinner according to atptour. “I was not complaining so much on court when things were going in the wrong way. I think these kind of things, they make difference sometimes…
“One of the things where I can be really happy is that I played many, many important matches in the biggest stadiums we have throughout the whole year. This is something [that] hopefully can help for the next season.”
Earlier, Sinner’s coaches Darren Cahill and Simone Vagnozzi won the Coach of the Year award for their work with the Italian.
Matteo Arnaldi, Christopher Eubanks and Ben Shelton were also nominated for Most Improved Player of the Year in the 2023 ATP Awards.
