Mel South: Mel began 2006 ranked in the 400s and ended the year at 167. Undoubtedly, the highlight of her season came at Wimbledon when she played the match of her life to upset world no 14 Francesca Sciavone in 3 sets in round 1 before going out to American Shenay Perry in straight sets in round 2. She started the year by winning a 10k in Hull and began to enjoy more success in 25ks. Throughout the year, she made four 25K semis and 2k quarters aswell as winning her first 25k title in Chengdu. Mel has also enjoyed plenty of doubles success, making three 25k finals and reaching the doubles top 200 for the first time.
Katie O'Brien: Katie has been the most consistently successful British player in challengers this year, reaching three 25k finals (including a title in Nottingham), two semis and 3 quarters. She also made a 50k semi in Japan. These successes have enabled her to reach a career high ranking of 187. At Wimbledon, Katie came the closest she's been to a first grand slam win. She led Italy's Tathiana Garbin by a set and a break but the world no 38 fought back to take in in 3. Katie has also had a lot of success in doubles this year, making six 25k finals all over the world.
Amanda Keen: Amanda quit tennis in summer 2005 to become a teacher but in April she returned to the tour and by the end of the year she was back in the world's top 250. Her stunning resurgence began when she won the first tournament she entered, without dropping a set - a 10k in Bath and a few weeks later she made a 25k final in Spain. In the summer she made two more 25k semis in Felixstowe and Vigo and then in September she made the Nottingham challenger final. She ended the year with a successful run which saw her make two 25k quarters in Eastern Europe.
Georgie Stoop: Georgie's progress in 2006 has been one of the big success stories for British tennis. She began the year ranked 846 and ended it ranked 545 places higher at 301 ! In the first 6 months, she played mostly 10ks and made a semi and two quarters. However, from July onwards she really started to hit form, reaching 10k finals in Frinton and Nottingham and a 25k semi in Jersey (beating world no 174 Sara Errani 6-1, 6-2 along the way). She ended the year in stunning fashion, qualifying for a 25k in Australia and then going on to take the title.
Naomi Cavaday: Naomi's progress over the past year has been little short of spectacular. Like Georgie, she began 2006 ranked in the 800s and increased her ranking by nearly 500 places over the course of the year to 362. She played mainly 10ks in the first half of the season, reaching a final in Sunderland, 3 semis and two quarters. In April she found top form in a series of top junior tournaments in the French Riveria, making a G1 final and two G2 finals. Naomi is a genuine all-court player but she's at her best on fast surfaces as she showed during the grass-court season. She came close to qualifying for WTA Birmingham, defeating world no 123 Tatiana Poutchek before losing a narrow 3 setter to top 100 player Melinda Czink. Naomi stormed through the Wimbledon wildcard playoff draw, earning her a round one match against former world no 8 Ai Sugiyama. Most expected it to be a near whitewash for Sugiyama but it was far from that, Naomi led 4-1 in the 2nd set before eventually losing 6-4, 7-5. She followed up these results by reaching the quarters of junior Wimbledon and the European junior championships and had a successful end to the year, reaching a 25k semi and two quarters on the European indoor circuit.
Incredibly tough decision for me between Naomi and Georgie.
In the end I voted for Georgie as she and Naomi actually had virtually the same ranking at the start of 2006 but Georgie's ended up over 50 places higher at the end of the season.
