Eugenie Bouchard makes a forehand return to Serena Williams during their singles match at the WTA tennis finals in Singapore.Mark Baker/The Associated Press
Canadian tennis player Eugenie Bouchard was named the WTA's most improved player of the year on Tuesday.
Bouchard reached the semi-finals at three of the four Grand Slams this year and made it to the final at Wimbledon last summer. She became the first Canadian singles player to reach a Grand Slam final in the modern era.
Bouchard, 20, rose as high as No. 5 in the world rankings this season and also qualified for the season-ending WTA Finals.
"My goal is to try to improve every single day, and I feel like I did that this year," Bouchard said in a statement. "But while I'm proud of my accomplishments, I've already set new goals I want to strive to reach next year.
"I look forward to continuing to improve."
Bouchard, from Westmount, Que., earned $3.22-million in prize money this season and had a 45-23 singles record. The world No. 7 defeated Karolina Pliskova in Nurnberg, Germany last May for her first career WTA title.
Media and fans vote for the WTA awards. Bouchard easily won both categories — she received 45 of 58 media votes and 49 per cent of fan votes to finish well ahead of Pliskova at 23 per cent.