Sportskeeda Tennis Awards 2014: Achievements of the year

Women's tennis in 2014 has seen a lot of great achievements by some very talented players. We have seen some new players come into the fray and who are making a mark on the big stage, while we have also seen some of the familiar faces reach new heights in their careers. This list acknowledges those women who have achieved something really great in 2014 on the court. It was a tough choice to narrow the list down to five achievements, so feel free to express your opinion in the comments section below if you think we missed out on any major achievement.

#5 Alize Cornet defeating Serena Williams three times

Alize Cornet has done something which only one person has been able to do before, and that is to defeat Serena Williams three times in one year. The last person to do this was former World No. 1 Justine Henin Harden, all the way back in 2007.

By achieving this feat, Cornet is also one of the very few players to have a positive win-loss record against the World No. 1. The Frenchwoman is not a top-ranked player, but she has that something in her which seems to give her the edge against Williams.

At the Dubai Tennis Championships, she recorded a straight-sets win over the American in the semifinals, which resulted in Cornet's accession to the Dubai final for the very first time. In July, she came from a set down to beat the American in what was also her best Wimbledon result to date. She recorded victory once more at the inaugural Wuhan Open, moving past Williams after the latter was forced to retire in the opening set due to viral illness.

Cornet is currently ranked No. 20 in the world. She has won four singles and two doubles titles on the WTA tour in her career, as well as three singles and three doubles titles on the ITF tour.

#4 Petra Kvitova winning Wimbledon and leading Czech to a third Fed Cup title in four years

Petra Kvitova has had a good season in 2014. She won her second Grand Slam title at Wimbledon after defeating Eugenie Bouchard in the final.

The icing on the cake for Kvitova, however, was winning the Fed Cup with Czech Republic for the third time in four years. Before this, no other player in history had been part of a Fed Cup team to have won the tournament three times in four years.

In the final against Germany, Kvitova overcame Andrea Petkovic in the first hurdle in straight sets. With Safarova winning the second clash over Kerber, the Czech team were one win away from victory. In the third rubber, Kvitova overcame Angelique Kerber in three tight sets, in a match that lasted nearly three hours, securing the title for the Czech team.

Kvitova has won 14 career singles titles, including two Grand Slam titles at Wimbledon. She reached her career-high ranking of World No. 2 in October 2011, and is currently ranked No. 4 in the world.

#3 Caroline Wozniacki\'s post break-up surge

Caroline Wozniacki was in a long-term relationship with professional golfer Rory Mcilroy. The two announced their engagement in January this year and were supposed to get married in June, but Mcilroy called off the engagement in May.

Events like these can take a toll on anybody, and many a times we have seen players go into depression and fail to play well after having an emotional breakdown. But this was not to be the case with Wozniacki.

In fact, she started to play much better after the break-up. After having quite an average season on court, she bounced back at the US Open where she reached the finals and lost to Serena Williams. She performed incredibly well at the WTA Tour Finals as well, where she reached the semifinals, only to be beaten by Serena once again, but in an extremely close encounter this time.

The Dane even ran the New York Marathon in November, proving her supreme fitness levels once again.

Wozniacki will be looking to carry on her brilliant form from 2014 into 2015, and will be looking to win her first ever Grand Slam title.

#2 Serena Williams drawing level with Evert and Navratilova

Serena Williams is unarguably one of the greatest players to have ever played the sport. She is currently the oldest No. 1 player ever, and in 2014 she equalled Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert’s Grand Slam tally after winning her 18th at the US Open.

Williams has been ranked No. 1 on six different occasions by the WTA. The American is even regarded by some experts and former tennis players to be the greatest female tennis player in history. She is the only female player to have won over $60 million in prize money.

Williams holds the most Major singles, doubles, and mixed doubles titles combined amongst active players, male or female. Her record of 33 Major titles puts her seventh on the all-time list: 18 in singles, 13 in women's doubles, and two in mixed doubles.

#1 Simona Halep\'s rise to stardom

Simona Halep’s comeback story has truly been inspirational. She has had a lot of difficulties in her career. At one point in 2013, she was ranked No. 64, but after consistent good results and tournament wins, she reached No. 2 in 2014.

In 2008, she had breast reduction surgery done when she was just 18, and she spent her early years struggling to string together solid results. Critics and fans started to write her off, but she came back with a bang in the Premier Five tournament in Rome last year, defeating the likes of Agnieszka Radwanska, Jelena Jankovic and Svetlana Kuznetsova in the process.

Halep started off her career with a defensive style of play, winning matches by capitalizing on her opponent’s mistakes and simply outlasting the. But Halep’s play in the last few tournaments has seen her game hit new levels of aggressiveness.

She reached her first Grand Slam final at the French Open where she lost to Maria Sharapova in a tight three-setter. She also reached the quarterfinals of the Australian Open and the semifinals of Wimbledon.