Tennis Canada announced on Wednesday that Milos Raonic and Leylah Annie Fernandez are its 2020 Players of the Year.
The two athletes achieved this distinction in the men and women, respectively, being also chosen the most deserving in singles. Additionally, Fernandez clinched the Most Improved Player title. On the men’s side, this award went to Vasek Pospisil, while Denis Shapovalov got his hands on the MVP. The title in women’s duet went to Gabriela Dabrowski.
For Fernandez, these honors are recognition of good performances. She notably defeated Belinda Bencic, then fifth in the world, at the Billie Jean King Cup, and participated in the final of the Acapulco tournament. The 18-year-old also made her way into the top 100 to finish the season 88th in the world.
“Leylah had a great breakthrough in 2020 as she shined on the pro tour by proving that she can compete with the best in the world despite her young age,” said Michael Downey, President and CEO of Tennis Canada, by press release.
“2020 has been a very trying year, during which tennis was put on hiatus for a few months, paralyzing tournaments and training at the same time. And if all our players were not able to return to the game, especially our juniors, our veterans and our wheelchair tennis players, our athletes who evolve on the professional circuits have managed to sign remarkable performances ”, a- he also indicated.
A regular
For his part, Raonic obtained the title of most deserving player for the eighth time in his career and thus comes close to the record of Daniel Nestor, winner of 10 times. This year, the 29-year-old Canadian reached the final of the Cincinnati Open, his first Masters 1000 circuit championship game since 2016. He also recorded several victories at the expense of top 20 rivals, reached the semi-finals. finals in Paris, finished the season with a 23-9 record and regained his place among the top 20 in the world.
As for Shapovalov, he has had success in singles and doubles. Individually, he made it to the top 10 in singles for the first time in his career. As a duo, he reached the quarter-finals in Marseille, New York and Rome in addition to being a semi-finalist in Rotterdam. Dabrowski, who finishes the year in the doubles top 10 for the third time in a row, has appeared in three WTA doubles finals in Adelaide, Doha and Ostrava.
After a successful return to the game in 2019, Pospisil continued its momentum in 2020, notably reaching two ATP finals in Montpellier and Sofia. He defeated David Goffin and Daniil Medvedev, among others, in addition to signing gains against his compatriots Shapovalov, Raonic and Félix Auger-Aliassime. The British Columbian was also nominated for the ATP Best Return To Game award.
