Serena Williams
Serena Williams of the U.S. poses with the trophy after defeating Simona Halep of Romania in the women's singles final tennis match of the WTA Finals at the Singapore Indoor Stadium October 26, 2014. Reuters

The International Tennis Federation (ITF) have named Novak Djokovic of Serbia and Serena Williams of the United States as the 2014 2014 ITF World Champions. The award is not a surprise in the tennis world considering both players have been on top of their game for much of the tennis season.

"Serena Williams is one of the toughest competitors of all-time, while Novak Djokovic’s performances at the biggest events make him a deserving winner. Bob and Mike Bryan’s remarkable achievement is a testament to their continued drive and determination, while Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci have shown the importance of teamwork both on and off court,” ITF President Francesco Ricci Bitti said in the tennis organisation’s official website.

Meanwhile, Bob and Mike Bryan from the United States were named ITF men's doubles champions while Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci from Italy were named the women’s double champions. Catherine “CiCi” Bellis of the United States and Russia’s Andrey Rublev are named ITF Junior World Champions, while the ITF Wheelchair World Champions are Japanese duo Yui Kamiji and Shingo Kunieda.

"I'm so honored to be named ITF World Champion for the fifth time. This was a year of challenges and triumphs, so to win another grand slam and retain my year-end No 1 ranking is an accomplishment I'm very proud of,” Williams said via Sky Sports. "I'm grateful to have the support of the tennis community in every way possible. I can't wait for 2015.”

“The ITF’s selection of its senior World Champions is based on an objective system that considers all results during the year, but gives special weight to the Grand Slam tournaments, and two ITF international team competitions, Davis Cup by BNP Paribas and Fed Cup by BNP Paribas,” according to the guidelines posted by the ITF on its website.

The 33 year old Williams has 2014 record of 52–8 with seven singe’s titles including the 2014 US Open in New York. The 27 year old Djokovic was at 61-8 with also seven titles and Grand Slam win at the 2014 Wimbledon Championships. Owing to another great performance, both stayed as World No. 1 for much of the year and the year-end rankings both in the WTA and ATP, respectively. Williams has won the ITF award for the fifth time while Djokovic has won it four times.

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