(Stamford, Conn., Monday, November 17, 1997) - A host of new faces were selected as reciptients for the 1997 COREL WTA TOUR awards, it was announced today. Each of the winners will be awarded custom-designed Waterford Crystal trophies in separate on-court ceremonies during the Chase Championships this week at Madison Square Garden in New York.

Balloting was conducted among players, worldwide media, and tournaments from September 22 through October 31. Balloting for the Most Exciting Player was conducted by fans on the Tour's website at http:corelwtatour.com and on-site at several events, including the U.S. Open.

Martina Hingis was a near-unanimous selection for the Player of the Year Award after taking three of the four Grand Slam singles titles and holding the top ranking since March. It is the third consecutive year she has picked up a major award after winning Most Impressive Newcomer in 1995 and Most Improved Player in 1996.

The only multiple award winner in the balloting was Coetzer, who was selected in all three categories that she was nominated for. Worldwide media selected "The Little Asassin" as the season's "Most Improved Player," while the Tour players selected her for the Karen Krantzcke Sportsmanship Award and the tournaments for the Diamond ACES Award, which goes to the player who gives selflessly of herself to help promote the game of tennis worldwide. It is the first time since the year-end awards were instituted in 1977 that a player has been selected to win three awards.

Other players taking awards included the doubles team of Gigi Fernandez and Natasha Zvereva, who won Doubles Team of the Year for the fourth time in their career, Mary Pierce, selected as Comeback Player of the Year, Venus Williams as Newcomer of the Year, Katrina Adams (the only repeat winner) for Player Service and Monica Seles as the Most Exciting Player.

The finalists and winners for each award are as follows (winners are in bold) :

PLAYER OF THE YEAR (selected by media) - Martina Hingis (SUI), Iva Majoli (CRO), Jana Novotna (CZE)

DOUBLES TEAM OF THE YEAR (selected by media) - Nicole Arendt/ Manon Bollegraf, Lindsay Davenport/Jana Novotna, Gigi Fernandez/Natasha Zvereva

MOST IMPROVED PLAYER (selected by media) -Amanda Coetzer (RSA), Anna Kournikova (RUS), Sandrine Testud (FRA)

NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR (selected by media) -Mirjana Lucic (CRO), Venus Williams (USA)

COMEBACK PLAYER OF THE YEAR (selected by media) -Manon Bollegraf (NED), Mary Pierce (FRA), Chanda Rubin (USA)

DIAMOND ACES AWARD (selected by tournaments) -Amanda Coetzer, Martina Hingis, Chanda Rubin

KAREN KRANTZCKE SPORTSMANSHIP (selected by players) - Nicole Arendt (USA), Amanda Coetzer, Rika Hiraki (JPN)

PLAYER SERVICE (selected by players) - Katrina Adams (USA), Patricia Hy Boulais (CAN), Mercedes Paz (ARG)

MOST EXCITING PLAYER (selected by fans) - Steffi Graf (GER), Martina Hingis, Monica Seles (USA)

TIER I/II TOURNAMENT OF THE YEAR (selected by players) - Lipton Championships, Key Biscayne, Fla., Porsche Grand Prix, Filderstadt, Germany, State Farm Evert Cup, Indian Wells, Cal.

TIER III/IV TOURNAMENT OF THE YEAR (selected by players) - Bell Challenge, Quebec City, Canada, Seat Open Luxembourg, IGA Tennis Classic, Oklahoma City, OK
 

(Sources from Corel WTA Tour)