Tennis Canada announced Bianca Andreescu as its 2017 Female Player of the Year on Tuesday. This follows the announcement on Monday that Denis Shapovalov won the men’s equivalent.
Andreescu also collected the singles player and junior player of the year honours.
After winning the junior girls’ doubles titles at the Australian and French Open tournaments, Andreescu made her first ever Fed Cup appearance for Canada. After helping the team reach the World Group II for 2018, she joined the pro circuit and made her Grand Slam debut at Wimbledon.
The 17-year-old’s biggest splash came when she became the first player born in the 2000s to defeat a top-20 player in Kristina Mladenovic (then ranked No.13). She lost in the quarterfinals, but that was enough to earn WTA Breakthrough of the Month for July.
Wow thank you so much I am honoured!
— Bianca V. Andreescu (@Bandreescu_) December 5, 2017
“I want to thank Tennis Canada for these amazing honours,” said Andreescu in a news release. “I want to thank my team of coaches and trainers for their support and hard work throughout the year. Without them, this would not be possible.”
Genie Bouchard had won the female player of the year award for the past four seasons, while Milos Raonic had taken home the last six honours on the men’s side.
For Shapovalov, this caps an incredible year for the 18-year-old who was also recently named ATP Most Improved Player as well as ATP Star of Tomorrow. He had a remarkable run to the semifinals of the Rogers Cup that included defeating current World No.1 Rafael Nadal, before advancing to the fourth round of the U.S. Open in his first Grand Slam event.
“I’m truly humbled to be recognized as Canada’s Male Player of the Year and to be given the opportunity to represent my country on the ATP tour and as a member of our Davis Cup team,” Shapovalov said in a news release.
Daniel Nestor won male doubles player of the year for the 15th time, while Felix Auger-Aliassime is Tennis Canada’s junior player of the year.
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