Nestor, Wozniak and Carter win Male, Female and Wheelchair Players of the Year, respectively

Tennis Canada announced Monday the recipients of the 2008 Excellence Awards. These awards recognize the country’s top tennis talent for their on-court achievements. The 2008 awards acknowledge the efforts and accomplishments of high performance athletes, seniors, officials, coaches, the Tennis Professionals Association (TPA) and Building Tennis Communities (BTCs) who best represented Canada on the tennis scene.

After another stellar year on tour, Daniel Nestor received top honours as Player of the Year for the sixth time and Male Doubles Player of the Year for the seventh consecutive year. Nestor won five championships in eight final appearances in 2008, finishing the year as the No.1 doubles team with Serbian partner Nenad Zimonjic. Nestor secured his first Wimbledon trophy in July, making him just the fourth man in the history of professional tennis during the Open Era to achieve a career Golden Slam, winning all four Grand Slams and an Olympic gold medal. He also captured the Tennis Masters Hamburg, London/Queen’s Club, Rogers Cup, his home ATP Masters Series tournament in Toronto and the season-ending Tennis Masters Cup Shanghai. As well, Nestor and Zimonjic reached the final at Roland Garros, ATP Masters Series Rome and ATP Masters Series Indian Wells and semifinals at Dubai and ATP Masters Series Cincinnati. Nestor showcased his doubles prowess alongside compatriot Frederic Niemeyer (Sherbrooke, Quebec) while representing Canada in 2008 Davis Cup action. The pair owns the Canadian record for best doubles team at 10-1, while Nestor continues to hold the records for most total wins, most doubles wins, most ties played and most years played.

The award for Male Singles Player of the Year went to top-ranked singles player Frank Dancevic. The Niagara Falls, Ontario native made a triumphant return to action in May 2008 after missing more than three months due to an injury. He then captured the Surbiton Challenger in June, one of the key Wimbledon warm-up tournaments, and went on to attain his biggest Grand Slam victory by defeating world No.7 David Nalbandian in the first round at Wimbledon in straight sets. Dancevic also reached the semifinals of the ATP event in Newport, Rhode Island in July and advanced to the second round of the 2008 Rogers Cup in Toronto by defeating No.24 Mario Ancic in the first round and then falling to world No.3 Novak Djokovic. The right-handed Dancevic also participated in his first Olympic Games in Beijing where he pushed No.10 Stanislas Wawrinka to three sets in the first round.

Thornhill, Ontario’s Peter Polansky capped off a stellar year by earning the award for Most Improved Male Player of the Year. Polansky continued his ascension up the ATP Tour rankings moving more than 125 spots from the start of 2008 to a career-high No.214 by the end of the year. After beginning the 2008 campaign playing Futures Series events, where he reached three quarter-finals and captured the Guatemala F1 Futures in January, he catapulted onto the Challenger Series circuit. Polansky reached his first Challenger Series semifinal at Rabat, Morocco in May and followed that up by qualifying for an ATP Tour main draw for the first time in Casablanca. He also reached the semifinals of the Rimouski Challenger in Quebec and the quarter-finals at Santiago, Vancouver, Waco and Louisville. Polanksy captured his first professional doubles title by winning the Granby Challenger with fellow Canadian Philip Bester. In Davis Cup play, Polansky notched two straight-set singles victories against Mexico in February 2008 while going 1-1 against Chile in April, taking Fernando Gonzalez to four sets in Santiago.

Edward Nguyen won the Excellence Award for Outstanding Junior Male Athlete of the Year. The Ottawa native captured the singles trophy at Les Petits As in Tarbes, France, one of the most prestigious international titles for under-14 players on the junior circuit. He became the first Canadian male to win the event. Nguyen also reached the final of the Junior Orange Bowl Championships in Florida and claimed the doubles title and reached the singles final at U14 Teen Tennis Event. In 2008, Nguyen completed his first year at the full-time National Training Centre in Montreal and was a member of Canada’s World Junior Tennis team.

On the women’s side, Aleksandra Wozniak solidified her place as one of Canada’s top female tennis stars by achieving three awards. Wozniak netted the Excellence Awards for Female Player of the Year, Female Singles Player of the Year and Most Improved Female Player of the Year. Wozniak announced her arrival amongst the world’s elite in 2008 reaching a career-high No. 34 on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour rankings, making her the fourth highest ranked Canadian singles player of all-time. She captured her first Tour title at Stanford in July becoming the first Canadian in 20 years to accomplish such a feat. En route to the title, she registered wins over three Top 20 players including Serena Williams and Marion Bartoli. She reached the semifinals of two other Tour events in Quebec City and Tokyo as well as the third round of Roland Garros. In August 2008, Wozniak was awarded the key to her hometown, the City of Blainville, Quebec after becoming the first woman from the province to win a Tour title. She was also honoured with an award from the National Assembly in October in recognition of her accomplishments as a professional athlete. Wozniak has also been a dedicated member of Canada’s Fed Cup team since 2004 compiling a staggering 23-4 win-loss record in that time. Her 23 wins ranks second on Canada’s all-time list behind Sonya Jeyaseelan who has 29.

Marie-Eve Pelletier (Repentigny, Quebec) won the honour of Female Doubles Player of the Year. Pelletier was the doubles champion at the $50,000 Tevlin Challenger in Toronto with compatriot Stephanie Dubois (Laval, Quebec) and the $50,000 Saint-Gaudens Challenger with Su-Wei Hsieh of Taipei. She was a finalist in doubles at the $100,000 Cagnes-Sur-Mer Challenger with France’s Julie Coin, $75,000 Denain Challenger with France’s Stephanie Cohen-Aloro, $75,000 Rome Challenger with Russia’s Alina Jidkova and $25,000 Helsinki Challenger with Austria’s Patricia Mayr. Overall, Pelletier’s 2008 doubles record was 31-24.

Eugenie Bouchard took home the award for Outstanding Junior Female. The Westmount, Quebec native captured the singles trophy at the Eddie Herr International followed by an appearance in the singles semifinals at the Dunlop U16 Orange Bowl. She took home two other singles titles at the Costa Rica Bowl, where she advanced as a qualifier, and the All Canadian ITF Junior Championships. Bouchard was also a doubles finalist at the Costa Rica Bowl with American Chanelle Van Nguyen. Bouchard joined the National Training Centre program in 2008 and was a member of Canada’s World Junior Tennis team.

In wheelchair tennis, Lee Carter was honoured as the Wheelchair Tennis Athlete of the Year. The Winnipeg native finished 2008 at No.17 in singles and No.39 in doubles. Carter won the ITF 2 Series Canadian Open singles title, a victory that was highlighted with a defeat over world No.12 American Jon Rydberg. He also won the national men’s singles and doubles titles at the ITF 2 Series Tennis Canada International Championships in Montreal, defeating American Paul Moran in the singles final and Canadian Yann Mathieu and Moran in the doubles competition with partner Corey Blatchford. Carter also won the singles and doubles trophies at the Southwest Desert Classic in Tucson, Arizona in February, an ITF Futures Series event. In addition, Carter qualified for the Paralympic Games in Beijing and was part of the team that placed fourth in World Group II at the World Team Cup.

Saskatchewan’s Corey Blatchford was named Most Improved Wheelchair Tennis Athlete after a tremendous 2008 season. Blatchford saw his ITF singles ranking jump 49 spots in the span of twelve months to finish 2008 ranked inside the Top 50 at No. 46. Blatchford won the singles and doubles trophies at the Texas Open Championships in Dallas, an ITF 3 Series event, and was a singles finalist at the ITF Futures Series Stanley Park Open in Vancouver. He also won the doubles title with Lee Carter at three ITF Futures Series events at the Southwest Desert Classic, the Windsor Classic Indoor Games, Les Internationaux de Quebec and one at the ITF 2 Series Tennis Canada International Championships. Blatchford won the doubles competition at the Stanley Park Open with Philip Rowe and the Texas Open Championships with American Paul Moran. As well, he reached the doubles final at the BC International Tennis Festival with Rowe and at the Pensacola Open, an ITF Series 1 event, with Great Britain’s Kevin Simpson.

“The 2008 season was a year marked by several notable achievements for tennis in Canada, which provides a nice springboard into 2009,” said Hatem McDadi, vice-president of tennis development for Tennis Canada. “Tennis Canada is pleased to recognize the outstanding accomplishments of the 2008 Excellence Awards recipients and the talent that represents Canada on the world stage.”

The Tennis Canada Excellence Awards will be presented at the Rogers Cup tennis events held in Montreal and Toronto this summer. 

2008 EXCELLENCE AWARD RECIPIENTS:

High Performance (Able Body)

Male

Player of the Year:                                                        Daniel Nestor

Singles Player of the Year:                                            Frank Dancevic

Doubles Player of the Year:                                           Daniel Nestor

Most Improved:                                                             Peter Polansky                                               

Female

Player of the Year:                                                         Aleksandra Wozniak                                       

Singles Player of Year:                                                  Aleksandra Wozniak

Doubles Player of the Year:                                           Marie-Eve Pelletier

Most Improved:                                                             Aleksandra Wozniak               

Juniors

Outstanding Junior Male:                                                Edward Nguyen

Outstanding Junior Female:                                            Eugenie Bouchard

High Performance (Wheelchair)

Wheelchair Tennis Athlete of the Year:                            Lee Carter

Most Improved Wheelchair Tennis Athlete:                       Corey Blatchford  

Seniors

Individual                           
                                           
Lorne Main (Men's Over 75 singles finalist)

Claude Servant and Jean Guy Sauve (Men's Over 40 Doubles winners)

 Muffie Grieve (Women's Over 75 finalist)

Team

Men: Bitsy Grant Cup (Men’s Over 75 Team)

Lorne Main, Ken Sinclair, Les Bourne, Pierre Descoteaux

Women: Queen’s Cup (Women’s Over 75)

Muffie Grieve, Rosemarie Asch, Hugette Fontaine, Sandra Sutton

Coaching        

Ben Armstrong

Uros Budimac

Jared Connell

Casey Curtis

Harry Greenan

Myron Grunberg

Pierre Lamarche

Jean-Claude Lemire

Leo Liendo

Nick Parkin

Mark Peliwo

Ernesto Ponce

TPA Awards

Coach of the Year:                                                         Antoni Wozniak                                              

Pro of the Year:                                                             Tom Kern                                                        

Facility of the Year:                                                        Saville Sport Centre                           

Course Facilitator of the Year:                                         Marie-France Mercier                         

Gary Caron TPA Scholarship:                                         Ryan Schroffel                

Officiating

George Rustscheff Excellence Award:                             Mohamed Chahir Fitouhi                                

On-Court Official of the Year Award:                                 Jérôme Allaire                                                

Erica Gilbert Off-Court Official of the Year Award:             David Kives                                         

Rookie Official of the Year Award:                                    Jesse Greene                                                  

Building Tennis Communities

Rookie BTC of the Year:                                     Tennis Yukon, Stacy Lewis     

Community Champion of the Year:                      Patrick Redmond, Gander, NFLD                    

Community of the Year:                                                  Montreal South West, QC, Norm Rothsching

Community Pathway Programming of the Year:                Montreal, QC, Nicole Nobert               

Community Partnership Development of the Year:             Moncton, NB, John Pearson