So here we are. The first of three rounds of votes to whittle our field down to one player of the season for 2023.
28 players, 14 women and 14 men, form 4 groups of 7. All the groups are evenly spread as far as possible and should be even in terms of type and level of player.
From the 7, the top 3 will proceed to the semifinals, 12 in total across the groups. IF there is a tie for being in the top 3, the tied players (however many) will be put into a subsequent rapid tie break vote to take place after this vote closes.
This vote will run through to SATURDAY 1005PM ( I have realised I am out Saturday night, haha).
The list of players is below in this Group is below - vote for one who you believe is the player of the season from the group, and please give a reason and tell us who you vote for, it helps draw attention to the voting process and is more interesting:
B
2022 Ranking
2023 Ranking
2023 Win/Loss Record
Titles
Other
Billy Harris
331
201
59-34 (63%)
October Player of the Month; Mar PoM RU
Andy Murray
49
42
31-18 (63%)
ATP 175 Challenger Aix-en-Provence, ATP 125 Challenger Surbiton, ATP 125 Challenger Nottingham
In this group, I battled with 3 candidates for my vote.
I discounted:
Jan Choinski - he won our wild card vote group today, and he won a Challenger title with a ranking improvement that was amazing, a great year but not quite enough for me
Lucy Shuker - being frank, Lucy qualified in the weakest category, our womens wheelchair players arent really doing it right now; sorry, Lucy
Anna Brogan - she had a great June as well and deserves credit but never quite reached the heights of others this season
Fran Jones - I love Fran, many of us do, but an injury hit season meant her April Player of the month win couldnt be replicated. She came back from nowhere ranking wise to inside the top 300 with a season 66% win loss record and I just hope she can have an injury free 2024.
So, I battled between Andy, Billy and Hannah.
Andy played more hours than probably any other player this season - 5 hours and some in Oz Open versus Kokkinakis, led to January PoM title. He won 3 tournaments in the year, but ultimately probably was disappointed in not really progressing in the rankings.
Billy replicated Andy's 63% win loss record, he won October PoM and was runner up earlier in the year. Maybe Billy actually played more hours than Andy and he was rewarded with entering the top 200 and winning an ATP Tour 250 level match in Sofia
Hannah - for her age, her record is amazing and she deserves lots of credit. Others will no doubt give her lots of votes, and deservedly so, but I find it hard to rate juniors over top level ATP play. Hannah might get my vote next year - stay fit, Hannah
So, it was Andy or Billy and , ultimately, Andy for his sheer effort, perseverance and just being Andy gets my vote
Hannah had a very impressive year and looks such an exciting talent for the future, so here's hoping she features in Player of the Season for many years to come. But I had to go for Billy. Every time we thought he'd probably maxed out his level for 2023 and would be consolidating for a while, he carried on and up! Really looking forwards to what he can do in 2024.
Hannah had a very impressive year and looks such an exciting talent for the future, so here's hoping she features in Player of the Season for many years to come. But I had to go for Billy. Every time we thought he'd probably maxed out his level for 2023 and would be consolidating for a while, he carried on and up! Really looking forwards to what he can do in 2024.
Billy tempted me also! Seems to be doing well regardless! 27 votes insofar
Id hoped wed clear Saturday with 30 votes in the bag in each group, to see us on to 40 by the end. Just about there. A couple more tonight would be good!
Remember those who havent voted or arent sure whether to vote, its player of the season and we want to crown the winner with a good number of votes through the process. The more the winner is validated in a very open season!