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Murray Wins BBC Sports Personality Of The Year Award

  • Posted: Dec 19, 2016

Murray Wins BBC Sports Personality Of The Year Award

Scot honoured for record third time

Andy Murray put a bow on his dominant 2016 season on Sunday, taking home the BBC Sports Personality of the Year (SPOTY) award. The Scot was honoured for a record third time, having previously won the award in 2013 and 2015.

Murray was named the British sportsperson of the year after completing a historic campaign on the ATP World Tour. The 29 year old became the first player from his country to ascend to No. 1 in the Emirates ATP Rankings and lift the trophy at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals. He posted a 78-9 win-loss mark, also including titles at Wimbledon, the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 events in Rome, Shanghai and Paris, and in London/Queen’s Club, Beijing and Vienna. Murray also successfully defended his gold medal at the Summer Olympics.

“Incredibly proud to win BBC Sports Personality Of The Year for a third time,” Murray posted on Facebook. “Thanks to everyone who voted for me, it really means a lot. It’s been an incredible year and it wouldn’t have been possible without the support of my team, family, friends and especially all of you, my fans… Here’s to 2017!”

Murray accepted the award from British boxing legend Lennox Lewis at his training base in Miami, where he is preparing for the upcoming season. Andy’s mother Judy and Wimbledon hero Marcus Willis were in attendance at Birmingham’s Genting Arena.

The Dunblane native won the coveted award with 247,419 votes in total, with triathlete Alistair Brownlee coming in second and show jumper Nick Skelton third. Murray is the fourth different tennis player to win the award in its 63-year history, after Ann Jones in 1969, Virginia Wade in 1977 and Greg Rusedski in 1997.

Moet and Chandon off-court news 

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The Numbers Game: 2016 ATP Challenger Tour

  • Posted: Dec 19, 2016

The Numbers Game: 2016 ATP Challenger Tour

ATPWorldTour.com examines the ATP Challenger Tour storylines behind the numbers in 2016

Match Win-Loss Leaders
Brazil’s Rogerio Dutra Silva was the lone player to claim 50 match wins this year, but it was Yen-Hsun Lu earning the highest win percentage (min. 30 matches played).

Player

W-L

Pct.

Yen-Hsun Lu

34-5

.871

James Duckworth

25-5

.833

Steve Darcis

31-7

.816

Facundo Bagnis

45-11

.804

Dudi Sela

25-8

.757

Carlos Berlocq

34-11

.755

Gerald Melzer

44-16

.733

Ricardas Berankis

22-8

.733

Jordan Thompson

46-17

.730

Singles Title Leaders
Facundo Bagnis became just the third player to win six titles in a season, joining Younes El Aynaoui (1998) and Juan Ignacio Chela (2001).

Player

Total

Clay

Grass

Hard

Facundo Bagnis

6

6

 

  

Yen-Hsun Lu

4

 

2  

2

Gerald Melzer

4

3

 

Jordan Thompson

4

1

 

3

You May Also Like: NextGen Surge Highlights 2016 Challenger Storylines


#NextGen Winners (17)
Twelve different #NextGen stars accounted for a total of 17 Challenger titles this year, with Frances Tiafoe, Ernesto Escobedo, Hyeon Chung, Yoshihito Nishioka and Kyle Edmund winning multiple crowns. In 2016, #NextGen players were born 1995 or later and inside the Top 200 of the Emirates ATP Rankings.

Player

Title

Age

Taylor Fritz

Happy Valley, AUS

18 yrs, 2 mos.

Andrey Rublev

Quimper, FRA

18 yrs, 4 mos.

Frances Tiafoe

Granby, CAN

18 yrs, 7 mos.

Frances Tiafoe

Stockton, USA

18 yrs, 9 mos.

Stefan Kozlov

Columbus, USA

18 yrs, 10 mos.

Quentin Halys

Tallahassee, USA

19 yrs, 6 mos.

Karen Khachanov

Samarkand, UZB

19 yrs, 11 mos.

Elias Ymer

Barletta, ITA

20 yrs., 7 days

Ernesto Escobedo

Lexington, USA

20 yrs, 1 mo.

Ernesto Escobedo Monterrey, MEX 20 yrs, 3 mos.
Hyeon Chung Kaohsiung, TPE 20 yrs, 4 mos.
Hyeon Chung Kobe, JPN 20 yrs, 6 mos.
Daniil Medvedev Saint-Remy, FRA 20 yrs, 7 mos.
Yoshihito Nishioka Winnetka, USA 20 yrs, 9 mos.
Kyle Edmund Dallas, USA 21 yrs, 1 mo.
Yoshihito Nishioka Astana, KAZ 21 yrs, 2 mos.
Kyle Edmund Rome, ITA 21 yrs, 4 mos.

Title Leaders By Country
Argentina claimed 20 titles this year, tying the record for most in a single season by a country.

Country

Finals W-L

Winners

Argentina

20-9

Bagnis-6, Andreozzi-2, Olivo-2, Schartzman-2, Zeballos-2, Kicker-2, Berlocq-1, Mayer-1, Velotti-1, Gonzalez-1

Italy

11-6

Vanni-3, Lorenzi-2, Gaio-2, Fabbiano-1, Cecchinato-1, Giannessi-1, Napolitano-1

France

11-10

Herbert-2, Mannarino-1, Robert-1, Sidorenko-1, Halys-1, Lestienne-1, De Schepper-1, Janvier-1, Doumbia-1, Benneteau-1

Australia

10-4

Thompson-4, Duckworth-3, Mott-1, Purcell-1, Groth-1

Germany

10-5

Mayer-2, Marterer-2, Struff-2, Kamke-1, Berrer-1, M Zverev-1, Brown-1

Russia

10-8

Youzhny-3, Donskoy-2, Kravchuk-2, Rublev-1, Khachanov-1, Medvedev-1

Outside Top 400 Winners (5)
At World No. 762, Aussie teen Max Purcell became the second-lowest ranked Challenger winner since 2000 with his title in Gimcheon, South Korea.

Player

Tournament

Emirates ATP Ranking

Max Purcell

Gimcheon, KOR

No. 762

Blake Mott

Launceston, AUS

No. 721

Mikael Torpegaard

Columbus, USA

No. 642

Casper Ruud

Sevilla, ESP

No. 450

Janko Tipsarevic Qingdao, CHN No. 413

ATP World Tour & ATP Challenger Tour Winners (4)
Four players lifted trophies on both the ATP World Tour and ATP Challenger Tour this year.

Player

ATP World Tour

ATP Challenger Tour

Paolo Lorenzi

Kitzbuhel

Canberra, AUS & Caltanissetta, ITA

Florian Mayer

Halle

Portoroz, SLO & Meerbusch, GER

Diego Schwartzman

Istanbul

Barranquilla, COL & Montevideo, URU

Karen Khachanov

Chengdu

Samarkand, UZB

Match Points Saved In Finals (5)
Sergiy Stakhovsky saved the most match points in an ATP Challenger Tour final this year, turning aside seven in beating Yen-Hsun Lu for the Seoul crown.

Player

M.P. Saved

Tournament

Sergiy Stakhovsky (d. Lu)

7

Seoul, KOR

Paolo Lorenzi (d. Donati)

6

Caltanissetta, ITA

Andrey Golubev (d. Khachanov)

4

Jonkoping, SWE

Renzo Olivo (d. L Mayer)

2

Buenos Aires, ARG

Max Purcell (d. Whittington) 1 Gimcheon, KOR

Fast Facts

  • At 17 years, 9 months, Casper Ruud was the youngest winner, claiming his maiden title in Sevilla, Spain. The third Norwegian champ in Challenger history, Ruud became the fourth-youngest player to win on debut.
  • Two all-teen finals were contested this year, as Quentin Halys (19) beat Frances Tiafoe (18) in Tallahassee, USA and Maxime Janvier (19) defeated Stefanos Tsitsipas (18) in Casablanca, Morocco.
  • Teenagers reached a total of 30 finals, winning 13 titles. Tiafoe was a five-time finalist, lifting trophies in Granby, Canada and Stockton, USA.
  • At 35 years, 9 months and 4 days, Stephane Robert was the oldest winner, claiming his seventh title in New Delhi, India. Robert was just two days older than Michael Berrer, who won in Leon, Mexico at 35 years, 9 months and 2 days.
  • At 38 years, 8 months, Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo became the oldest player to reach a final in Challenger history, when he finished runner-up in Qingdao, China.
  • Ramirez Hidalgo made more history as the first player to reach 400 match wins, on 4 August in Chengdu, China.
  • Three unseeded wild cards won titles: Blake Mott (Launceston, AUS), Alexandre Sidorenko (Saint-Brieuc, FRA) and Mikael Torpegaard (Columbus, USA)
  • Qualifiers went 7-10 in finals, with Norbert Gombos becoming the lone Lucky Loser champ, in Brest, France. Gombos was the first LL winner in three years and the 12th in Challenger history.
  • Four players successfully defended titles: Facundo Bagnis (Santiago, CHI), Hyeon Chung (Kaohsiung, TPE), Yen-Hsun Lu (Ningbo, CHN) and Henri Laaksonen (Champaign, USA).
  • There were a total of 34 first-time winners this year (11 more than in 2015), with 17-year-old Ruud the youngest and 29-year-old James McGee the oldest.
  • National firsts: Di Wu became the first Chinese winner (Maui, USA) and Darian King the first titlist from Barbados (Cali, COL). Marcelo Arevalo is the first finalist from El Salvador, finishing runner-up in San Luis Potosi, MEX.
  • Longest finals: Andrey Golubev won the first three tie-break final since 2012, beating Karen Khachanov 6-7(9), 7-6(5), 7-6(4) in Jonkoping, SWE. The longest timed final registered at three hours, 13 minutes, with Joao Souza beating Nicolas Kicker in Fano, ITA.
  • Shortest completed finals: Games – Yen-Hsun Lu beat Stefan Kozlov 6-0, 6-1 in Suzhou, CHN. Time – At 48 minutes, Jan-Lennard Struff beat Vincent Millot in Mons, BEL and Frances Tiafoe beat Marcelo Arevalo in Granby, CAN.

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Tecnifibre's Jasika, Istomin Win Aussie Open Wild Cards

  • Posted: Dec 19, 2016

Tecnifibre's Jasika, Istomin Win Aussie Open Wild Cards

Aussie teen Omar Jasika wins Wildcard Play-off

Aussie teen Omar Jasika will make his second straight appearance at the 2017 Australian Open after earning a main draw wild card on Sunday. The 19 year old, who won his first tour-level match at Melbourne Park last year, claimed the Wildcard Play-off with a 6-7(2), 6-2, 6-0, 6-4 win over John-Patrick Smith. Jasika completed an improbable run, having trailed by two sets and a break to Marinko Matosevic in the first round.

“I’m happy to be in the Australian Open in 2017,” said Jasika. “Looking forward to it. Last year was a great experience and one of the few days I won’t forget.”

Jasika joins fellow Tecnifibre player Denis Istomin in the main draw. The Uzbek, who owns a 7-10 record at the Australian Open, will make his 11th appearance after clinching the Asia-Pacific Wildcard Play-off two weeks ago. He defeated #NextGen star Duckhee Lee 7-5, 6-1 in the final.

Also claiming a main draw wild card Down Under is 18-year-old American Michael Mmoh, who will make his tournament debut. The World No. 198 achieved his goal of finishing the season inside the Top 200 of the Emirates ATP Rankings with a title run at the Knoxville Challenger last month. The victory guided him to win the USTA Australian Open Wild Card Challenge.

The 2017 Australian Open begins 16 January.

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Sports Personality winner Murray determined to improve

  • Posted: Dec 19, 2016

BBC Sports Personality of the Year Andy Murray says he is determined to keep improving so that he remains world number one for as long as he can.

On a star-studded night, Murray collected the main award from his base in Miami where he is training for 2017.

“It’s possible everything doesn’t go perfectly next year and I need to be prepared,” the 29-year-old said.

“I know staying at the top is a really difficult thing to do. I’m not taking anything for granted.”

He added: “I’m sure Novak [Djokovic] will be wanting to get back to the top spot but it’s taken me so long to get here that I want to stay there as long as I can, and that’s why I’m over here now.

“I’m working on my game and trying to get myself in shape so I can start 2017 as best as possible.”

Murray, the 2013 and 2015 Sports Personality winner, took Olympic gold, claimed his second Wimbledon title and became tennis’ world number one in a remarkable 2016.

He received 247,419 votes to claim the prize for a record third time, with triathlete Alistair Brownlee second and show jumper Nick Skelton third.

A landmark year for Murray

  • February 2016: Has first child as wife Kim gives birth to daughter Sophia
  • June 2016: Becomes Wimbledon champion for the second time
  • August 2016: Defends Olympic singles title in Rio
  • November 2016: Replaces Novak Djokovic as world number one

In his acceptance speech, Scot Murray said: “I’d like to thank everyone who voted. I really appreciate your support. And I’d like to thank my team – they make a lot of sacrifices for me; they’re away form their family at times of the year like this.”

He received the award from British boxing world champion Lennox Lewis and later said: “The trophy is a bit broken. It’s kind of stuck down with tape where the top bit of the camera is.

“They didn’t tell me how it got broken, and to hold it close to my body. After the problems me and Lennox had the last time [a botched handover when he was third in 2012], I listened to them.”

  • Listen to the soundtrack of BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2016

Runner-up Brownlee, 28, said Murray was “an incredible sportsman”.

The Yorkshireman, who became the first man to retain the Olympic triathlon title at Rio 2016, added: “In tennis, which is very competitive, his consistency – especially this year – has been very impressive.

“He focuses and does his best in the Olympics and that shows someone who is a real, genuine sportsman.”

Third-placed Skelton, 58, who became Britain’s second oldest Olympic gold medallist at August’s Games, said of Murray: “He’s had a great year and worked hard to get where he is. To win it three times, you’ve got to be pretty good, haven’t you?”

Record-breaking Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps, won the Lifetime Achievement award and also had some words of praise for Murray.

“Watching what he’s done on the court is insane,” the 23-time Olympic gold medallist said. “He’s really shown he’s the best player in the world and it’s been fun to watch him on his mission.”

Leicester City manager Claudio Ranieri won Coach of the Year and said: “He’s amazing. He deserved to win. He’s a champion and I hope he can repeat his success this season.”

A very special guest

There was a very special guest among the 12,000-strong audience in Birmingham – terminally ill five-year-old Sunderland fan Bradley Lowery.

Bradley scored a penalty for his beloved Black Cats in the warm-up against Chelsea on Tuesday night and there is a growing social media campaign for it to be named the official Premier League Goal of the Month.

His mum Gemma said they had been surprised and delighted to be invited.

“Normal people like us don’t usually get a chance to go to things like this,” she said.

“It’s been crazy the last few weeks. The whole country has come together.”

Did Leicester miss their cue?

Leicester City won Team of the Year and their manager Claudio Ranieri Coach of the Year after last season’s remarkable Premier League title success.

But when they were called up to collect the prize, there seemed to be a bit of confusion. Striker Jamie Vardy watched on with a grin as Ranieri seemed to be expecting somebody else to get up first.

When they eventually did take to the stage, captain Wes Morgan said: “We’ve not done it the easy way but we did it in the end and it just comes down to the unique set of lads we’ve got.”

Is Kim in the bad books?

Murray’s acceptance speech also contained a subtle message for his wife Kim…

“I’ve got a bone to pick with my wife because about an hour ago she told me she’d voted for Nick Skelton. Not smart from her with Christmas coming up,” he said.

Skelton was asked whether he was aware Murray’s wife had voted for him, and responded: “I’m very pleased with her actually. But she didn’t vote enough times.”

Murray later told BBC Radio 5 live: “I’m hoping she was joking! I’ll speak to her when I’m off air and find out definitely.

“It’s my last day off before Christmas and I’m doing my Christmas shopping tonight so if she gives me the wrong answer she’s not getting anything.”

When the TV magic was shattered

“Hey Ross, this is Lutalo Muhammad. I’m a taekwondo athlete…”

This call from Olympic taekwondo silver medallist Muhammad thanking Ross, who raised £2,000 for his club, begins well enough.

The problem comes when he forgets how a phone actually works…

Muhammad was taking part in Get Inspired’s #BigThankYou – which recognises sport’s unsung heroes.

How many did you get in the SPOTY bingo?

By our reckoning we came close to a full house. There was everything but number one. Thankfully no emergency plasters were required (unlike last year!).

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