Fourth-straight yr that Fernandez has received the Tennis Canada award, third-straight yr for Auger-Aliassime
On Tuesday, Tennis Canada introduced that Leylah Annie Fernandez (Laval, QC) and Félix Auger-Aliassime (Montreal, QC) are the recipients of the 2023 Tennis Canada Excellence Awards for Participant of the Yr and Singles Participant of the Yr within the girls’s and males’s classes, respectively.
The opposite Excellence Awards went to Gabriela Dabrowski (Ottawa, ON) and Vasek Pospisil (Vernon, BC)for Doubles Participant of the Yr, to Marina Stakusic (Toronto, ON) and Gabriel Diallo (Montreal, QC) for Most Improved Participant of the Yr, and to Nadia Lagaev (Vaughan, ON) and Keegan Rice (Regina, SK) for Junior Gamers of the Yr. In wheelchair tennis, Rob Shaw (North Bay, ON) earned the Wheelchair Tennis Participant of the Yr award, whereas Natalia Lanucha (Pincourt, QC) claimed the Most Improved Participant of the Yr award.
“We wish to congratulate all of this yr’s recipients of the Tennis Canada Excellence Awards,” mentioned Gavin Ziv, CEO of Tennis Canada. “It was one other unimaginable yr for Canadian tennis, with historic milestones achieved throughout the board. Canada’s first-ever Billie Jean King Cup victory and first girls’s Grand Slam doubles title had been the primary highlights, however that doesn’t take away from everybody else’s improbable achievements on and off the court docket. From Rob successful a silver medal on the Parapan Am Video games whereas serving as a flag bearer for Canada to Félix being acknowledged with the Arthur Ashe Humanitarian Award for his charitable efforts, it’s been an absolute pleasure to observe our nation proceed to make nice strides in 2023.”
SINGLES PLAYERS OF THE YEAR
On the ladies’s aspect, Laval’s Fernandez took dwelling her fourth straight Ladies’s Participant of the Yr and Ladies’s Singles Participant of the Yr awards. The 21-year-old had a stellar season, making it to the finals of the French Open in doubles, successful the Hong Kong Open in China for her third-career WTA title, and placing on a stunning show on the worldwide stage on the Billie Jean King Cup en path to Canada’s first title on the event. In Seville, Fernandez received all 4 of her singles matches, together with a vital win over Czechia’s No. 7 ranked Marketa Vondrouvosa within the semi-finals, and her one look in doubles.
For the third straight yr, Montreal’s Auger-Aliassime received the Males’s Participant of the Yr and Males’s Singles Participant of the Yr awards. The 23-year-old got here again from a tough begin to the yr to finish his season with some very promising play. He efficiently defended his title on the 2023 Swiss Indoors, defeating Holger Rune in straight units within the semi-final for his first top-10 win of the season earlier than beating Hubert Hurkacz within the ultimate. Auger-Aliassime additionally participated on this yr’s Laver Cup, serving to Staff World defeat Staff Europe.
DOUBLES, JUNIORS AND MOST IMPROVED PLAYERS OF THE YEAR
Ottawa’s Dabrowski had a yr to recollect, successful the Doubles Participant of the Yr award for the 11th time in her profession. In September, the 31-year-old received the US Open doubles title together with her new associate Erin Routliffe, clinching Canada’s first Grand Slam girls’s doubles title. The duo then instantly made a run to the Guadalajara Open finals, after which adopted that up by successful a WTA 500 title on the Zhengzhou Open. This late run helped Dabrowski and Routliffe qualify for the WTA Finals, the place they made it to the semi-final. Dabrowski then ended the yr on the Billie Jean King Cup, the place she received all three of her doubles matches, taking part in an integral function in Staff Canada’s triumph.
Pospisil earned the boys’s Doubles Participant of the Yr award after his clutch play on the Davis Cup helped Canada qualify for the quarter ultimate. Within the group stage in Bologna in September, Pospisil received all three of his doubles matches taking part in alongside Alexis Galarneau. The wins helped Canada safe its spot within the Davis Cup Closing 8 in Malaga, Spain.
Toronto’s Stakusic had a panoramic surge late within the yr, successful three ITF tournaments in September and October, together with a stunning win in entrance of a house crowd in Toronto on the Tevlin Challenger W60 occasion. Follwing her finish of season dominance, Stakusic then broke out on the worldwide stage on the Billie Jean King Cup. The 19-year-old didn’t squander the chance when she was referred to as upon to play, successful three of her 4 singles matches, all towards top-60 opponents. In the meantime, Montreal’s Diallo continues to climb the world rankings, attaining a career-high rating of No. 130 in 2023, up from 227 in 2022, whereas incomes three wins over top-25 opponents and successful three titles (two singles, one doubles). Diallo additionally performed a pivotal function on the Davis Cup for Staff Canada, highlighted by a shocking upset over Italy’s world No. 18 Lorenzo Musetti.
In juniors, Lagaev, 15, and Rice, 17, had spectacular years. Lagaev received two J100 titles in Quebec Metropolis and Latvia and took part on the Junior Billie Jean King Cup for Staff Canada. She additionally received the singles title at U18 Fischer Indoor Indoor Junior Nationals in Toronto in April. In the meantime Rice received one J200 title in Austria, attaining a career-high juniors rating of 32 through the yr.
WHEELCHAIR TENNIS AWARDS
Shaw obtained the Wheelchair Tennis Participant of the Yr award after concluding one other unimaginable season on the wheelchair tennis circuit, attaining a career-high ITF quad singles rating of No. 6 and doubles rating of No. 3. Shaw competed in all 4 Grand Slam occasions, earned a silver medal on the Parapan Am Video games whereas additionally serving as a flag bearer for Canada, and reached the finals in two ITF1 occasions. Lanucha obtained the Wheelchair Tennis Most Improved Participant of the Yr award as she achieved a career-high ITF girls’s singles rating of No. 47 whereas successful the ITF Futures Fredericton girls’s singles title in addition to the singles and doubles title on the Birmingham Nationals.
