Sabalenka Wins WTA Player of the Year Award, Navarro is Picked as Most Improved

FILE PHOTO: Tennis - WTA Finals - King Saud University Indoor Arena, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia - November 8, 2024 Belarus' Aryna Sabalenka in action during her women's singles semi final match against Coco Gauff of the US REUTERS/Aleksandra Szmigiel/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Tennis - WTA Finals - King Saud University Indoor Arena, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia - November 8, 2024 Belarus' Aryna Sabalenka in action during her women's singles semi final match against Coco Gauff of the US REUTERS/Aleksandra Szmigiel/File Photo
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Sabalenka Wins WTA Player of the Year Award, Navarro is Picked as Most Improved

FILE PHOTO: Tennis - WTA Finals - King Saud University Indoor Arena, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia - November 8, 2024 Belarus' Aryna Sabalenka in action during her women's singles semi final match against Coco Gauff of the US REUTERS/Aleksandra Szmigiel/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Tennis - WTA Finals - King Saud University Indoor Arena, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia - November 8, 2024 Belarus' Aryna Sabalenka in action during her women's singles semi final match against Coco Gauff of the US REUTERS/Aleksandra Szmigiel/File Photo

Aryna Sabalenka received the WTA Player of the Year award for the first time on Monday after winning two Grand Slam titles and finishing 2024 at No. 1 in the rankings.
In other results of voting by tennis media, Emma Navarro was honored as Most Improved Player, Paula Badosa was named Comeback Player, Lulu Sun was Newcomer of the Year, and Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini were picked as the Doubles Team of the Year, The Associated Press reported.
Sabalenka, a 26-year-old from Belarus, won the Australian Open in January and the US Open in September, along with two other titles this season, going 56-14 with nearly $10 million in prize money. She overtook Iga Swiatek for the top ranking in October.
Navarro made her debut in the WTA's top 10 in September after making her deepest Grand Slam run at the US Open, where she eliminated defending champion Coco Gauff in the fourth round before losing to Sabalenka in the semifinals.
The 23-year-old Navarro, who grew up in South Carolina and won the 2021 NCAA singles championship at the University of Virginia, won her first tour title at Hobart, Australia, in January, and moved from No. 32 in the rankings at the start of 2024 to No. 8 at the end.
Badosa sat out the last half of 2023 with a back injury but the 27-year-old Spaniard was back near the top of the sport this year, climbing to No. 12 in the rankings, winning the title in Washington and equaling her best result at a Grand Slam tournament by getting to the US Open quarterfinals.
Sun went from outside the top 200 in the rankings to a career-best No. 39, highlighted by a quarterfinal showing as a qualifier at Wimbledon in July and a runner-up finish at the Monterrey Open in August. Sun, 23, was born in New Zealand, grew up in Switzerland and helped the University of Texas win an NCAA team championship.
Errani and Paolini won a doubles gold medal for Italy at the Paris Olympics and helped their country win the Billie Jean King Cup. They also reached the French Open doubles final together. In singles, Paolini was the runner-up at both the French Open and Wimbledon.



Lando Norris Wins, Nico Hulkenberg Makes History at British GP

McLaren driver Lando Norris of Britain celebrates winning the Formula 1 British Grand Prix at the at the Silverstone Circuit racetrack, Britain, 06 July 2025.  EPA/PETER POWELL .
McLaren driver Lando Norris of Britain celebrates winning the Formula 1 British Grand Prix at the at the Silverstone Circuit racetrack, Britain, 06 July 2025. EPA/PETER POWELL .
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Lando Norris Wins, Nico Hulkenberg Makes History at British GP

McLaren driver Lando Norris of Britain celebrates winning the Formula 1 British Grand Prix at the at the Silverstone Circuit racetrack, Britain, 06 July 2025.  EPA/PETER POWELL .
McLaren driver Lando Norris of Britain celebrates winning the Formula 1 British Grand Prix at the at the Silverstone Circuit racetrack, Britain, 06 July 2025. EPA/PETER POWELL .

McLaren's Lando Norris won his first British Grand Prix -- his home-country event -- in a race that had no shortage of twists and turns.

Beginning under dry skies that soon turned rainy at Silverstone Circuit in Northamptonshire, England, the race also saw Germany's Nico Hulkenberg finish third. For the 37-year-old Kick Sauber driver, it was his first podium in 239 Formula One starts.

And the second-place finisher, McLaren's Oscar Piastri, put himself in great position when he passed polesitter Max Verstappen of Red Bull, but that all changed when Piastri was penalized 10 seconds for coming out of a safety car restart too slowly.

And for Brit Lewis Hamilton, the defending champion, it was a fourth-place finish at his home grand prix. It marked his first finish off the podium after 12 consecutive podiums at the event, with his late push falling short, Reuters reported.

Verstappen finished fifth, falling out of the top three following a spin off the course.

Norris won in one hour, 37 minutes and 15.735 seconds, finishing 6.812 seconds ahead of his Australian McLaren teammate.

Hulkenberg held off Hamilton by just over five seconds.

As expected, two of the top three finishers were overjoyed in their post-match comments -- with one not so much.

"It is beautiful. Apart from a championship, this is as good as it gets in terms of feelings," Norris said of the win in England. "Incredible race, stressful as always but the support from the fans made the difference so I have to thank them.

"The main thing is don't it up, that is rule number one. It might never happen again. Hope it does, but these are memories I'll have forever."

Hulkenberg was equally jubilant, especially since he started 19th on the grid.
"It's been a long time coming hasn't it?! What a race, coming from virtually last. ... Crazy conditions, survival mode all race. We were really on it, no mistakes," he said.

"Today, I was in denial until the last pit stop and then I heard we gapped Lewis so I thought OK, breathing space but then he was closing. The pressure was there, intense race but we didn't crack."

Piastri declined to go into details after the penalty, which he served at a pit.
"I'm not going to say much, I'll get myself in trouble," he said. "Congrats to Nico, that's the story.

"Apparently you can't brake behind the safety car anymore. I had done it for five laps before but I'm not going to say more, I'm going to get myself in trouble. I still like Silverstone even if I don't like it today."