This is the voting poll and discussion thread for the February player of the month. There are 11 nominations. Voting will be kept open until 8 pm on Friday 6th March, so open for 5 days, winner will be the person/persons who has the most votes by that time. If equal, we will declare a tie.
Below is my summary of the players and their achievements in the month of February (to 1st March). If I have missed any important details on anyone, please feel free to add and comment: players are listed in surname order. (I would like to be able to say a little more about the juniors, for example, but don't have any resource beyond ITF site and the girls are too young and their events not on ITF).
Harriet
Dart
Played Fed Cup versus Slovakia taking 65th ranked Kuzmova to 3 vry tight sets in dramatic tie on 2nd day. Overall 0-2 record for the month, Ranked 141 at month end
Jack
Draper
Won Sunderland M25 and RU in Glasgow M25, compiled a 11-2 record for the month. Will move Top 300 when points go on
Kyle
Edmund
Won New York Open ATP 250 and QF Acapulco ATP 250 including beating top 20 ranked Felix Auger-Aliassime. Had a 7-1 record for the month. Moves back to Top 50
Dan
Evans
SF Dubai ATP500, QF Rotterdam ATP 500 including wins over 3 top 20 opponents (Fognini, Rublev, Khachanov). Had a 5-2 record for the month. Moves into Top 30 for first time
GB
Girls U12
Won Tennis Europe U12 Title unseeded, beating Czech Rep, Belarus and Russia in the final
Billy
Harris
Billy compiled a 4-3 singles record incl a semi at one of the M15 events in Heraklion, but in doubles he won the Vale do Lobo M15 event in Week 8 for a fine month
Dom
Inglot
Won New York Open ATP 250 and RU Montpellier ATP 250 (beating Murray/Skupski and Rojer / Tecau). Had a 7-2 record for the month. Just outside Top 50 at month end
Hannah
Klugman
As well as being part of the Tennis Europe winning GB U12 team, Hannagh had individual success in Auray, France, winning the Tennis Europe U12 event in style
Henry
Patten
Qualified for Barnstaple M25 and reached QF round beating WR top c. 550 Mridha. Had a 5-3 record for month (incl qualiying matches)
Emma
Raducanu
Ru Sunderland W25, including wins over players ranked 195, 218, and 266 . Should improve on CH ranking of 363 in short order.
Heather
Watson
Won Acapulco WTA International; Won rubber in Fed Cup versus Slovakia away. Had a 6-1 record on the month and moves back into Top 50
-- Edited by indiana on Monday 31st of August 2020 12:08:51 PM
8 votes so far. If anyone wants to comment or discuss their vote, I think that is to be encouraged.
I voted for Dan, I just felt his body of work for the month was exceptional and stood out over 2 atp 500 events.
It seems not all the voters to date agree though!
It was a tough choice this month with a number of worthy winners. Dan had an excellent month. Obviously Kyle also did extremely well going on a 7 match win streak and winning his 2nd ATP. But Heather's achievement was so much "out of left field" as the Americans would say, that in the end I went for Heather.
I think you will get plenty more voters over the next few days, but this is Sunday evening on a day with very little GB tennis involvement, so probably not many people checking in on the board tonight.
Thank you for setting this up. I voted Dan, not sure he will get another week like this but I'm confident Heather will use this week as a springboard to better results. When she makes top 30 I'll vote for her, unless it's the same month Harriet breaks 100 in which case I'll have a dilemma.
The most interesting stat so far is that last month we had a player (not an Andy Murray) that won an ATP title and yet so far that person hasn't got a single vote. Until a couple of years ago, someone other that Andy winning an ATP title would have been viewed as pipe dream.
Kyle is my choice, as last year he was going through a tough time with his tennis so excellent he's won another title.
No pressure from BiS as I'd already decided - honestly.
I actually voted for Heather, more because I have always expected Kyle to make his way back up the rankings, whereas Heather's victory seemed much more out of the blue. Kyle would have been my second choice, followed by Dan.
-- Edited by Bob in Spain on Monday 2nd of March 2020 08:56:00 AM
I know that Dan has had a great week with more top wins than he's had before, but for Heather I don't think that it's just that she won Acapulco but that she has shown a level of consistency since the end of last year that has been entirely missing in her game for near on 4-5 years, so it's really lovely to see her back playing this way at this level... As more than one person has noted, happiness in player's personal lives often can help contribute to happier times on court too.
I originally nominated Dom but doubles can be a very inconsistent game, and he lost in the first round after one of his wins. However his win loss ratio is as good as several others for this month, so it's a really tough choice. Normally I go on the principle of if you nominate someone you vote for them, but I've broken it this time and voted for Heather. She seemed to be on a downward trail and this months results have been so consistently good and surprising.