Here are the nominees for this season’s Coach of the Year. All nominees were voted on by WTA registered coaches.
Our nominees for the 2023 WTA Player Awards
Brad Gilbert/Pere Riba
Current player: Coco Gauff
Length of Coach/Player Relationship: June 2023-present/October 2023
Ranking at the start of the year: 7
2023 Year-End Ranking: 3
Highlights:
- Riba started working with Gauff ahead of the grass season with Gilbert joining the team in August.
- Since the pair came on board, Gauff won 20 of 23 matches — including 12 straight — and, in succession, a WTA 500 (Citi Open) WTA 1000 (Western & Southern Open) and a Grand Slam (US Open)
- Gauff reached a career-high singles ranking of World No.3 on Sept. 11, 2023
- Gauff reached the semifinals of the GNP Seguros WTA Finals Cancun in singles and finished the tournament with a 2-2 record
- Also qualified for the GNP Seguros WTA Finals Cancun in doubles as the Race No.1 team with Jessica Pegula and finished the season ranked No.3 in doubles
- As of October, Riba parted ways with Gauff, while Gilbert remains as coach
Tomasz Wiktorowski
Current player: Iga Swiatek
Length of Coach/Player Relationship: 2022-Present
Ranking at the start of the year: 1
2023 Year-End Ranking: 1
Highlights:
- Wiktorowski coached Swiatek for the consecutive season, where she led the Hologic WTA Tour this season in titles won (6) and matches won (68)
- Swiatek captured fourth Grand Slam title at Roland Garros and became the first woman to defend a Roland Garros singles title since Justine Henin in 2007
- She claimed her sixth WTA 1000 title of career at the China Open and made WTA 1000 finals at Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championship and the Mutua Madrid Open
Swiatek went a perfect 5-0 in matches and 10-0 in sets to win her first GNP Seguros WTA Finals Cancun title at Cancun
- Swiatek reached 75 weeks at World No.1 in her career — third longest streak among players in their first stint at World No.1
- By reaching the Wimbledon quarterfinals, she has now reached the quarterfinals or better at all four Grand Slams
Anton Dubrov
Current player: Aryna Sabalenka
Length of Coach/Player Relationship: 2020-Present
Ranking at the start of the year: 5
2023 Year-End Ranking: 2
Highlights:
- In Dubrov’s fourth season coaching Sabalenka she became the 29th player to reach the singles ranking of World No.1 on Sept. 11, 2023, a ranking she held for eight weeks
- Sabalenka is the first woman to reach the semifinals or better at all four Grand Slam events in a calendar year since Serena Williams in 2016
- Sabalenka won her first Grand Slam singles title at the Australian Open, in her first Grand Slam final appearance; also made the US Open final
- Sabalenka reached the semifinals of the GNP Seguros WTA Finals Cancun, where she fell to eventual champion Swiatek
- Sabalenka captured a total of three titles and made three additional finals this year, including a WTA 1000-level title at the Mutua Madrid Open
Emil Miske
Current player: Karolina Muchova
Length of Coach/Player Relationship: 2017-2019, April 2023-Present
Ranking at the start of the year: 151
2023 Year-End Ranking: 8
Highlights:
- After Miske and Muchova resumed their partnership in April of this year, Muchova made her Top 10 debut in August, and reached a career-high ranking of No.8 on Sept. 11, 2023
- Muchova reached two finals this year, at the WTA 1000 Western & Southern Open and her first Grand Slam final, at Roland Garros, while also enjoying further success at the majors by making the semifinals at the US Open
- Muchova posted quarterfinal runs at WTA 1000 events at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championship and BNP Paribas Open and the WTA 250 ASB Classic.
- Muchova celebrated her first WTA Finals qualification at the GNP Seguros WTA Finals Cancun, but had to withdraw with an injury
Stefano Vukov
Current player: Elena Rybakina
Length of Coach/Player Relationship: 2019-Present
Ranking at the start of the year: 21
2023 Year-End Ranking: 4
Highlights:
- In their fifth season together, Vukov led Rybakina to the first two WTA 1000 titles of her career at the BNP Paribas Open and the Internazionali BNL D’Italia. She also made the final at the Miami Open presented by Itaú
- Rybakina reached her second Grand Slam final at the 2023 Australian Open, falling to Sabalenka in the final
- Rybakina won 27 matches at WTA 1000 events this season, tying Iga Swiatek for the most on tour in 2023
- She reached the Top 10 for the first time in 2023 and peaked at a career-high ranking of No.3
- Rybakina went 4-1 against current World No.1 players this year — defeated Swiatek three times when she was ranked No.1, and added a win over new No.1 Sabalenka at the China Open
Raemon Sluiter
Current player: Elina Svitolina
Length of Coach/Player Relationship: March 2023-Present
Ranking at the start of the year: 240
2023 Year-End Ranking: 25
Highlights:
- Sluiter began working with Svitolina in March of this year, where she returned to the Tour in April 2023 after a year away from the game due to pregnancy and the birth of her daughter
- Svitolina won her 17th Hologic WTA Tour title at the Internationaux de Strasbourg (her second title at the event)
- Svitolina achieved further success with Grand Slam results of quarterfinalist at Roland Garros and semifinalist at Wimbledon, where she lost to eventual champion Marketa Vondrousova
