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JonH comes home · Tennis legend

British Tennis Forum PLAYER OF THE SEASON - WILDCARD NOMINATIONS THREAD

indiana · Tennis legend

Player of the Season Wildcard nomination and reason:

1. Savannah Dada-Mascoll - An unexpected history making breakout year. Highest singles ranking in Appalachian State history at No 5. First App State player to qualifier for NCAAs, All-American and NCAA quarter-finalist. Carolina region co-champion. Full narrative in post 3

2. Ben Jones - has won the most titles of any player this season with 9 at the time of writing. All of those are doubles titles, 5 at M25 level and with 7 different partners. Plaudits for being our player with the most titles!

3. Mimi Xu - in her final year as a junior, reached the semi-finals of junior Wimbledon while mostly concentrating on making a successful transition to senior tennis. She won the best title of her senior career at the W100 in Wrexham and has raised her ranking from around WR500 at the start of the year to around WR250.

4. Hamish Stewart - Hamish also was prolific in winning titles this year, taking 8 in total as of end of November; 1 singles and 7 doubles at ITF level. He also managed to significantly improve his rankings, at the age of 26, almost halving both singles (to around 338) and doubles to 249) in a year where he made significant strides. Expecting more from him in 2025, but those 8 titles get him on the list.

5. Jake Fearnley - Starting the year at WR99, Jake maintained a top 100 ranking throughout the year, despite struggling in the second half of 2025 as he embarked on only his second year on the main tour. He reached a CH of 49 and was GB #2 for part of the year, having won his first main draw matches at ATP500 and ATP1000 level in 2025, as well as rounds at the Australian, French and US Opens.

6. GB ITF men's singles players - as of 01/12 more ITF singles tities than any other nation ( 61 with Italy second on 58 ), with a particularly impressive record in M25s ( 36, with France second on 25 ). We started the year with 9 players in the top 300, with the then essentially ITF players (a number have advanced to challengers as the year has progressed), then making that 12 in the top 400 and 19 in the top 500. We are ending the year with 15 in the top 300, 25 in the top 400 (more than double), and 29 in the top 500 (for so long in the past 20 seemed an elusive target). Remarkable.

7. Arthur Fery - after returning from a long spell of injury, Arthur began the year by winning the M25 title at Roehampton, unseeded and without losing a set. In August, he won his second title of the year and his first at challenger level at the Barranquilla CH75. In between, he won his first main draw match at Wimbledon and secured a win on his debut at the Davis Cup. He ends the year having qualified for an ATP250 for the first time and at a new CH inside the top 200.

8. Victoria Allen - having reached WR 671 as an 18 yo in 2019, then largely out of the collective consciousness for a number of years, particularly with being at college in the US, the now 24 yo has had a really good proper initial pro season. W35 Quebec City singles title plus 4 doubles titles, the highest being W50 Nottingham (with Millie Rajecki). Began the year unranked, as of 01/12 she has a singies ranking of 436 and a doubles ranking of 328, both close to her CHs. GB #14 in singles.

the addict · Tennis legend

I'm looking to see if there are any additions from the women's doubles. Liv, Emily WS and Alicia D are already in, Indi has just nominated Vic. Some of the others have maintained their rankings whilst playing at a higher level (Maia, Emily A, Alicia B etc). More research needed !

indiana · Tennis legend

Tbf this year most of our big advances ( many I suggest pretty unexpected ) have come from our men, so it is probably natural that that will be reflected as we look to others that have had a good year. I have made my general men's ITF nomination but I expect to see a number more individuals being specifically pointed out. Of course, it will be good to see further women and juniors but certainly don't hold back folk on putting some of these men forward.

JonH comes home · Tennis legend

the addict wrote:
I'm looking to see if there are any additions from the women's doubles. Liv, Emily WS and Alicia D are already in, Indi has just nominated Vic. Some of the others have maintained their rankings whilst playing at a higher level (Maia, Emily A, Alicia B etc). More research needed !

Good stuff- I hope you find a little nugget!

JonH comes home · Tennis legend

indiana wrote:
Tbf this year most of our big advances ( many I suggest pretty unexpected ) have come from our men, so it is probably natural that that will be reflected as we look to others that have had a good year. I have made my general men's ITF nomination but I expect to see a number more individuals being specifically pointed out. Of course, it will be good to see further women and juniors but certainly don't hold back folk on putting some of these men forward.

Thanks for the Victoria Allen nomination, Indy!

indeed, I have a list of 9 more I plan to make now, but 7 of those are men, incl one of those is mens doubles, a couple are wheelchair players; and then there is one womens player and one junior.

But some may align to your comment above, I think. But they will be drip fed in one per day as the process moves forward, and I still hope folks get there before me with some of those!

-- Edited by JonH comes home on Thursday 4th of December 2025 08:05:04 PM

Brendan F · Intermediate Club Player

indiana wrote:
Player of the Season Wildcard nomination and reason:
1. Savannah Dada-Mascoll - An unexpected history making breakout year. Highest singles ranking in Appalachian State history at No 5. First App State player to qualifier for NCAAs, All-American and NCAA quarter-finalist. Carolina region co-champion. Full narrative in post 3

2. Ben Jones - has won the most titles of any player this season with 9 at the time of writing. All of those are doubles titles, 5 at M25 level and with 7 different partners. Plaudits for being our player with the most titles!

3. Mimi Xu - in her final year as a junior, reached the semi-finals of junior Wimbledon while mostly concentrating on making a successful transition to senior tennis. She won the best title of her senior career at the W100 in Wrexham and has raised her ranking from around WR500 at the start of the year to around WR250.
4. Hamish Stewart - Hamish also was prolific in winning titles this year, taking 8 in total as of end of November; 1 singles and 7 doubles at ITF level. He also managed to significantly improve his rankings, at the age of 26, almost halving both singles (to around 338) and doubles to 249) in a year where he made significant strides. Expecting more from him in 2025, but those 8 titles get him on the list.
5. Jake Fearnley - Starting the year at WR99, Jake maintained a top 100 ranking throughout the year, despite struggling in the second half of 2025 as he embarked on only his second year on the main tour. He reached a CH of 49 and was GB #2 for part of the year, having won his first main draw matches at ATP500 and ATP1000 level in 2025, as well as rounds at the Australian, French and US Opens.
6. GB ITF men's singles players - as of 01/12 more ITF singles tities than any other nation ( 61 with Italy second on 58 ), with a particularly impressive record in M25s ( 36, with France second on 25 ). We started the year with 9 players in the top 300, with the then essentially ITF players (a number have advanced to challengers as the year has progressed), then making that 12 in the top 400 and 19 in the top 500. We are ending the year with 15 in the top 300, 25 in the top 400 (more than double), and 29 in the top 500 (for so long in the past 20 seemed an elusive target). Remarkable.
7. Arthur Fery - after returning from a long spell of injury, Arthur began the year by winning the M25 title at Roehampton, unseeded and without losing a set. In August, he won his second title of the year and his first at challenger level at the Barranquilla CH75. In between, he won his first main draw match at Wimbledon and secured a win on his debut at the Davis Cup. He ends the year having qualified for an ATP250 for the first time and at a new CH inside the top 200.
8. Victoria Allen - having reached WR 671 as an 18 yo in 2019, then largely out of the collective consciousness for a number of years, particularly with being at college in the US, the now 24 yo has had a really good proper initial pro season. W35 Quebec City singles title plus 4 doubles titles, the highest being W50 Nottingham (with Millie Rajecki). Began the year unranked, as of 01/12 she has a singies ranking of 436 and a doubles ranking of 328, both close to her CHs. GB #14 in singles.

NB I haven't fully researched everything so the writeup may not be entirely accurate, hence why I'm keeping it down here in case it needs rewriting, but here goes:

9. Oliver Crawford - after a largely uneventful first season since switching which saw him start his second year ranked down in the 400s he's given us more a sense of what he's capable of in his second year, breaking into the top 200 for the first time and reaching his first Challenger final.

JonH comes home · Tennis legend

Great, thanks Brendan and good to see Oli recognised. Its his third challenger final, he had two in 2023 but this years was his first since become a British player. So maybe a minor edit?

The rest looks good, if you want to edit your post and join him into the list, that would be great!

Thanks for nominating!

JonH comes home · Tennis legend

Pleased with the way nominations are going so far, exciting set of votes ahead. December PoM will determine the stricture, we could land anywhere from 3 to 6 wildcards (Im looking at players making a move this first week in December and thinking my original thinking of how it might pan out is likely to be wrong).

So lots of nominations would be useful to make it a good competitive vote!

-- Edited by JonH comes home on Thursday 4th of December 2025 11:37:33 PM

JonH comes home · Tennis legend

Player of the Season Wildcard nomination and reason:

1. Savannah Dada-Mascoll - An unexpected history making breakout year. Highest singles ranking in Appalachian State history at No 5. First App State player to qualifier for NCAAs, All-American and NCAA quarter-finalist. Carolina region co-champion. Full narrative in post 3

2. Ben Jones - has won the most titles of any player this season with 9 at the time of writing. All of those are doubles titles, 5 at M25 level and with 7 different partners. Plaudits for being our player with the most titles!

3. Mimi Xu - in her final year as a junior, reached the semi-finals of junior Wimbledon while mostly concentrating on making a successful transition to senior tennis. She won the best title of her senior career at the W100 in Wrexham and has raised her ranking from around WR500 at the start of the year to around WR250.

4. Hamish Stewart - Hamish also was prolific in winning titles this year, taking 8 in total as of end of November; 1 singles and 7 doubles at ITF level. He also managed to significantly improve his rankings, at the age of 26, almost halving both singles (to around 338) and doubles to 249) in a year where he made significant strides. Expecting more from him in 2025, but those 8 titles get him on the list.

5. Jake Fearnley - Starting the year at WR99, Jake maintained a top 100 ranking throughout the year, despite struggling in the second half of 2025 as he embarked on only his second year on the main tour. He reached a CH of 49 and was GB #2 for part of the year, having won his first main draw matches at ATP500 and ATP1000 level in 2025, as well as rounds at the Australian, French and US Opens.

6. GB ITF men's singles players - as of 01/12 more ITF singles tities than any other nation ( 61 with Italy second on 58 ), with a particularly impressive record in M25s ( 36, with France second on 25 ). We started the year with 9 players in the top 300, with the then essentially ITF players (a number have advanced to challengers as the year has progressed), then making that 12 in the top 400 and 19 in the top 500. We are ending the year with 15 in the top 300, 25 in the top 400 (more than double), and 29 in the top 500 (for so long in the past 20 seemed an elusive target). Remarkable.

7. Arthur Fery - after returning from a long spell of injury, Arthur began the year by winning the M25 title at Roehampton, unseeded and without losing a set. In August, he won his second title of the year and his first at challenger level at the Barranquilla CH75. In between, he won his first main draw match at Wimbledon and secured a win on his debut at the Davis Cup. He ends the year having qualified for an ATP250 for the first time and at a new CH inside the top 200.

8. Victoria Allen - having reached WR 671 as an 18 yo in 2019, then largely out of the collective consciousness for a number of years, particularly with being at college in the US, the now 24 yo has had a really good proper initial pro season. W35 Quebec City singles title plus 4 doubles titles, the highest being W50 Nottingham (with Millie Rajecki). Began the year unranked, as of 01/12 she has a singies ranking of 436 and a doubles ranking of 328, both close to her CHs. GB #14 in singles.

9. Oliver Crawford - after a largely uneventful first season since switching which saw him start his second year ranked down in the 400s he's given us more a sense of what he's capable of in his second year, breaking into the top 200 for the first time and reaching his first Challenger final since becoming a British player and the third of his career

10. Lui Maxted - one of the standout players this year; hes another player who took 8 titles, 3 in singles. But his ranking shot up from below 1000 to just in the top 500 in singles and similarly in doubles; in fact, apart from Toby Samuel, Lui is the highest rising singles player of all of our men and women, in terms of absolute rankings - well over 600 places. And the board took to him. he was nominated 3 times for player of the month, in the top ten or so of players to get multiple nominations.

added Lui and amended Oli C slightly - brendan, feel free to edit Oli further as you see fit - you can always edit and repost a new list, no problem.

-- Edited by JonH comes home on Friday 5th of December 2025 08:33:19 AM

JonH comes home · Tennis legend

In case anyone wonders - for the voting there will be as many groups to vote on as there are wildcards. The players are being split randomly and evenly into groups, as the nominations come in. I actually have 4 different group structures - one covering each of 3, 4 , 5 or 6 wildcards and therefore voting groups!!

It is completely random how they are being allocated using an AI prompt. So no one needs be concerned that nominating in any particular way will confer any sort of advantage or disadvantage - it is what it is. As they are wildcards, there is no attempt to balance out any groups between men and women, singles and doubles. It lands where it lands!!

As December nominations take shape, the number of likely wild cards will become clearer. If a player gets through December PoM and into PoS, they will be taken out of the wildcard voting (and the groups readjusted accordingly!). At this stage, there are no December nominations and, thus, it isnt an issue - although I can see one player in the wildcard list who looks like they may get onto the December PoM nominations list as well, at this stage, and a second I expect to be in that position.

Let's see.