Thursday 10 December 2020

2020 Tennis ELO Awards - Winners

The voting is over, and it's time to announce the winners! Find out who won this year's Tennis ELO awards after the jump. 


Like last year, the polls took place on Twitter, and if you haven't done so already, follow @tennis_elo to be the 1st to hear of new blog posts and more.


Player of the Year - Men's
Nominees:
  • Casper Ruud - For his performance at Buenos Aires and Rome.
  • Jannik Sinner - For his performance at the French Open and Sofia.
  • Tennys Sandgren - For his performance at the Australian Open.
  • Ugo Humbert - For his performance at Auckland and Antwerp.
Jannik Sinner is this year's Player of the Year, getting 65% of the vote. He earned himself 144 ELO rating points over the course of the year, amd moved up from 84th to 25th in my rankings. Last year's winner, Dominic Thiem, had a decent year, but with high expectations over a shortened season; he was nominated for the Disappointment of the Year award. How well will Jannik perform next year?


Player of the Year - Women's

Nominees:
  • Aryna Sabalenka - For her performance at Ostrava and Linz.
  • Garbine Muguruza - For her performance at the Australian Open.
  • Iga Swiatek - For her performance at the French Open.
  • Jennifer Brady - For her performance at Dubai and Lexington.
With 2/3 of the vote, Iga Swiatek won the largest percentage of votes this year in any of the awards, and is this year's Player of the Year. Iga gained 89 ELO rating points over the year, moving her up 39 places in my rankings to #24. Last year's winner, Bianca Andreescu, did not play this year and is no longer ranked on my rankings; let's hope that Iga can avoid that fate.


Disappointment of the Year - Men's

Nominees:
  • Alex De Minaur
  • Diego Schwartzman
  • Dominic Thiem
  • Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
This nomiation list was the most controversial one this year, and (probably by default) ended up going to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. He lost 30 ELO rating points and 7 places in my rankings over the short part of the season he played in. Last year's "winner" of this award, Alexander Zverev, had a pretty good 2020. Can Jo-Wilfried make a comeback?


Disappointment of the Year - Women's

Nominees:
  • Johanna Konta
  • Karolina Pliskova
  • Serena Williams
  • Venus Williams
This poll was tied between Karolina Pliskova and Serena Williams, but as Pliskova lost more ELO this year, I am declaring her to be this year's "winner" of this award. She lost 39 ELO rating points overall. Last year's "winner", Caroline Garcia, had an average 2020, ending at the same ranking as she entered it. Can Karolina do better next year?


For next year's awards, I will be adjusting how the nominees for the Disappointment of the Year awards are selected to try and resolve a few complaints I heard about the selections offered.
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