MONTREAL, December 20, 2019 (Tennis Canada Press Release)

Tennis Canada announced on Thursday that Denis Shapovalov was named Male Player of the Year, Singles Player of the Year and Doubles Player of the Year. The other Excellence Award recipients for 2019 include Félix Auger-Aliassime who was named Most Improved Player and Liam Draxl as the Junior Player of the Year.

“Denis, Félix and Liam have all had productive seasons and fully deserve these awards,” said Michael Downey, President and CEO at Tennis Canada. “Several players made their mark in 2019, demonstrating the increasing depth that we have in Canadian tennis. Denis stood out from the rest, however, thanks to his successful fall season where he played outstanding tennis week after week, captured his maiden ATP title and defeated a number of elite ATP players to climb to no. 15 in the rankings. For his part, Félix experienced a meteoric rise and even if he did not manage to get his hands on his first ATP title, it is sure to happen very soon. At the junior level, Liam garnered a lot of attention by showcasing that he is among the Next Generation of players with a very bright future.”

Shapovalov has been named Male Player of the Year for the second time in his career, having earned this honour in 2017. The 20-year-old Ontario native, who began the year ranked at no. 27, managed to inch his way closer to the Top 10 by finishing the 2019 season at no. 15, a career best. During the fall, he took home his first ATP title at the Stockholm Open and reached his first Masters 1000 final in Paris after notably defeating Fabio Fognini, Alexander Zverev and Gaël Monfils. His success continued in Madrid where he led the Canadian team to their first ever appearance in the Davis Cup final. Earlier in the year, he also reached the semi-finals at the Miami Masters as well as the third round at both the Australian Open and the US Open.

If Shapovalov had a stellar year in singles, he also had a great amount of success in doubles which earns him the award for Doubles Player of the Year. Alongside partner Rohan Bopanna, he reached the doubles semi-finals at the Rogers Cup presented by National Bank in Montreal as well as the final of the ATP 250 event in Stuttgart. During the Davis Cup Finals, he also notched two crucial victories playing with Vasek Pospisil, to allow Canada to defeat Australia and Russia.

Auger-Aliassime and Draxl also honoured
After being named 2018 Junior Player of the Year, Auger-Aliassime has been chosen as the Most Improved Player for 2019. In fact, he made great strides throughout the last twelve months. After beginning the year ranked outside of the Top 100 (no. 106), he made his way all the way up to the no. 17 spot before finishing the season at no. 21. He came incredibly close to capturing his first ATP title, as he reached three finals – Rio, Lyon and Stuttgart. The 19-year-old Quebec native also went on a deep run at the Miami Masters, reaching the semi-finals.

For his part, Draxl had a lot of success on the junior circuit. Currently ranked at no. 18 in the ITF rankings, he broke into the Top 10 (no. 9) in May of this year. He also captured the second title of his career at the Grade 1 tournament in Carson, California and was a finalist in Roehampton, a preparation tournament before Wimbledon. It was at the Junior Australian Open and Junior US Open that he got his best Grand Slam results, reaching the third round. In doubles, he reached the final at Junior Wimbledon and the semi-finals at the Junior French Open.

PLAYER OF THE YEAR