Eugenie Bouchard Named Tennis Canada Female Player Of The Year

Genie Bouchard

MONTREAL, December 12, 2018 (Press Release)

Tennis Canada announced on Wednesday that Eugenie Bouchard is the winner of the 2018 Excellence Awards in the Female Player of the Year and Singles Player of the Year categories. In addition, Gabriela Dabrowski has been named Doubles Player of the Year, while Rebecca Marino is the Most Improved Player and Leylah Annie Fernandez is the Junior Player of the Year.

Bouchard takes this honour for the fifth time in six years. During the 2018 season, she saw a significant progression which allowed her to finish the year ranked no. 88. She also finished her year on a high note by reaching the semi-finals of a tournament in Luxembourg after having to go through qualifying. Earlier this year, she reached the semi-finals of a tournament in Gstaad and also won all three of her qualifying matches as well as her first round match at Wimbledon and the US Open. The Quebec native, who slid to the 194th spot in the rankings in June, was able to regain her place in the Top 100 and was thus able to secure her participation in the main draw at the Australian Open.

Dabrowski, Marino and Fernandez also honoured
With her ranking of no. 10, Dabrowski is the country’s best doubles player and one of the stars of this field on the WTA tour. In January, she won her second Grand Slam title when she was crowned mixed doubles champion at the Australian Open playing alongside Mate Pavic. She added three WTA titles to her collection, at tournaments in Sydney, Eastbourne and Doha. She finished her exceptional season in style by qualifying for the end of year WTA Finals along with her partner Yifan Xu.

2018 was a momentous year for Rebecca Marino who made a return to competition after an absence of over five years. The 28-year-old began the season without a ranking and finished the year ranked inside the Top 200, currently sitting at no. 189. She was notably crowned champion of five tournaments on the ITF Circuit, three of which were the first events in her comeback. Towards the end of the year, she reached the quarter-finals at the National Bank Cup in Quebec City.

For her part, Fernandez, had success both on the junior and professional circuits in 2018. In fact, in addition to reaching the semi-finals at the Junior French Open as well as no. 11 in the ITF junior rankings, the 16-year-old athlete also notched her first victory in the main draw of a WTA tournament by defeating compatriot Gabriela Dabrowski at the National Bank Cup.

“We extend our congratulations to Eugenie, Gabriela, Rebecca and Leylah Annie for their achievements throughout this season,” stated Michael Downey, President and CEO of Tennis Canada. “Eugenie deserves the honour of Player of the Year after working hard to regain her spot in the Top 100. Her end of season gives us much optimism for 2019. Gabriela affirmed herself as one of the best doubles players in the world; Rebecca’s courage, perseverance and determination allowed her to experience a successful comeback; while Leylah Annie has captured the attention of Canadians thanks to her results, not only at the junior level, but also on the professional circuit. This has been a crucial year for our athletes and we look forward to following their future successes.”

The Tennis Canada Excellence Awards are selected by a committee comprised of high-ranked Tennis Canada personnel and the country’s top national coaches.

PLAYER OF THE YEAR

Year Male Player of the Year Female Player of the Year
1982 Réjean Genois Marjorie Blackwood
1983 Glenn Michibata Carling Bassett
1984 Martin Wostenholme Carling Bassett
1985 Glenn Michibata Carling Bassett
1986 Andrew Sznajder Helen Kelesi
1987 Grant Connell Helen Kelesi
1988 Andrew Sznajder Jill Hetherington
1989 Andrew Sznajder Helen Kelesi
1990 Grant Connell Helen Kelesi
1991 Grant Connell Patricia Hy
1992 Grant Connell Patricia Hy
1993 Greg Rusedski Patricia Hy
1994 Sébastien Lareau Jana Nejedly
1995 Grant Connell Patricia Hy-Boulais
1996 Sébastien Lareau Patricia Hy-Boulais
1997 Daniel Nestor Patricia Hy-Boulais
1998 No record of award No record of award
1999 No record of award No record of award
2000 Daniel Nestor and Sébastien Lareau Sonya Jeyaseelan
2001 Daniel Nestor Jana Nejedly
2002 Frédéric Niemeyer Maureen Drake
2003 Daniel Nestor Maureen Drake
2004 Daniel Nestor Aleksandra Wozniak
2005 Daniel Nestor Stéphanie Dubois
2006 Frank Dancevic Aleksandra Wozniak
2007 Daniel Nestor Stéphanie Dubois
2008 Daniel Nestor Aleksandra Wozniak
2009 Daniel Nestor Aleksandra Wozniak
2010 Daniel Nestor Rebecca Marino
2011 Milos Raonic Rebecca Marino
2012 Milos Raonic Aleksandra Wozniak
2013 Milos Raonic Eugenie Bouchard
2014 Milos Raonic Eugenie Bouchard
2015 Milos Raonic Eugenie Bouchard
2016 Milos Raonic Eugenie Bouchard
2017 Denis Shapovalov Bianca Andreescu
2018 Will be announced on December 13 Eugenie Bouchard