The WTA has announced Michael Geserer, Piotr Sierzputowski and Wim Fissette as the three nominations for the Coach of the Year award.
Geserer coached Jennifer Brady during the season, Sierzputowski took over the duties with Iga Swiatek while Fissette was Osaka’s coach during the severely-curtailed 2020 season.
The winner will join an elite club of WTA Coach of the Year prize winners after this award was first given at the end of the 2018 season. Osaka’s coach in 2018, Sascha Bajin and Craig Tyzzer who coached Ash Barty in 2019 were the first two winners of this award.
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Brady might not have won any Grand Slams like the other two players on this list but it was a season to remember for her. She began the season ranked 56th in the world and climbed up to 24th thanks to a sterling and consistent performance throughout 2020.
She claimed her maiden WTA title victory at the Lexington Open and went on to make it to the semifinal of the US Open. Other last-four appearances included the WTA Dubai and the Ostrava Open more recently.
The American also defeated Ash Barty at the Brisbane International early in the season.
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Swiatek started off the season with a promise she had that extra spark in her game as she reached the fourth round of the Australian Open.
However, it was her showing at the French Open, which she went on to win as a teenager that puts her coach on to this list. She finished the year ranked 17th in the world.
And Osaka’s story is well-known. A runner-up at the Western & Southern Open when she had to withdraw from the final against Victoria Azarenka because of an injury, Osaka went on to defeat the same opponent in the title-decider of the US Open to lift her third Grand Slam title.
The Japanese player finished the season ranked third in the world.