THE SCOOP: THURSDAY, JANUARY 15

Tennis writers name Federer, Henin-Hardenne
players of the year
Clijsters, El Aynaoui are best ambassadors

ITWA Board member Patrick Miles of the Australian and Women’s Ambassador for Tennis Kim Clijsters share a laugh.

The International Tennis Writers Association (ITWA) today announced its annual professional tennis awards and named Switzerland’s Roger Federer and Belgian’s Justine Henin-Hardenne its 2003 Players of the year.

Winners of the ASAP Best Ambassadors for the Sport of Tennis were Belgian Kim Clijsters and Moroccan Younes El Aynaoui. Wimbledon champion and Tennis Masters Cup winner Federer was a clear winner over his closest challenger, the US open champion Andy Roddick. Roland Garros champion Juan Carlos Ferrero came third.

"Roger’s impeccable performance at Wimbledon, his astounding title run at the year-end Tennis Masters Cup and his overall fine play on all surfaces gave him the edge over Roddick," said ITWA President Richard Evans.

French and US Open champion Henin-Hardenne was an overwhelming winner in the women’s category. Justine’s Belgian compatriot Clijters and Serena Williams tied for second place.

"While Serena Williams was nails-tough at Australian Open and Wimbledon, Justine’s remarkable triumph in Paris and her incredible run on U.S. hardcourts pushed her over the top," said ITWA’s Matthew Cronin, the co-owner of tennisreporters.net and managing editor of Inside Tennis magazine. "She showed remarkable resiliency and improvement all year long."

All winners will be presented with Montblanc pens next week at the Australian Open following the recent vote of well over half of ITWA’s 103 worldwide members, who represent publications and radio outlets that reach more than 75 million people world wide.

In the "Ambassador" category, Clijsters was a very popular choice. She was followed by Henin-Hardenne and France’s Amelie Mauresmo. Also getting "Ambassador" votes among the women were Martina Navratilova, Ai Sugiyama, Lindsay Davenport, Patty Schnyder and Monica Seles.

"There isn’t a nicer person in tennis or a more cooperative one," said Cronin. "Kim consistently goes the extra mile to help further popularize the sport and is a more than deserving winner of our inaugural award."

El Aynaoui won a close contest where seven men received votes and was trailed by American Andre Agassi and Thailand’s Paradorn Srichaphan. Federer, Gustavo Kuerten, Carlos Moya and James Blake were the other men who received votes.

The "Ambassador" category recognizes cooperative players who spend the most time attempting to work with the media so as to promote the sport to the public.

"El Aynaoui is always ready to present himself as a willing ambassador of his sport even in the most demanding circumstances," said Evans. "After losing that extraordinary five-hour battle with Roddick at the Australian Open, Younes did his press conference and then answered questions in four of the six languages he speaks fluently. Physically and mentally he must have been exhausted but he went far above and beyond the call of duty."

ITWA members come from five continents. Its board of directors includes representatives from England, France, the United States, Australia, Canada, Spain, Switzerland, Brazil and Lebanon.