The Best Stars Moments Of 2016
The Best Stars Moments Of 2016
Dec192016
Will the British and world no.1 Andy Murray get off to a good start in 2017 and keep his level of tennis at the same height as…
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!”
In case you missed it…
Andy Murray is the 2016 BBC Sports Personality of the Year.
➡️ https://t.co/76ofUdUMYT #SPOTY pic.twitter.com/ORH2fPE6F8
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) December 18, 2016
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.
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 |
|
1 |
|
Jordan Thompson |
4 |
1 |
|
3 |
#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
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.
Aussie open 2017 here we come ✌?️? pic.twitter.com/ACenOs9Y9A
— omar jasika (@OJasika) December 18, 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.
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.”
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.”
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.”
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.”
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.”
“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.
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!).
BBC Sport looks back at the achievements which led to Andy Murray being crowned Sports Personality of the Year for a record third time.
Andy Murray has been voted the BBC Sports Personality of the Year for a record third time.
Murray, the 2013 and 2015 winner, took Olympic gold, claimed his second Wimbledon title and became tennis’ world number one in a remarkable 2016.
Triathlete Alistair Brownlee was second and show jumper Nick Skelton third.
“It’s been a great year for British sport and I am so proud to have been a part of it,” said 29-year-old Murray as he accepted the award from Miami.
Murray accepted the award via video-link from Florida, where he is preparing for the 2017 season.
As he took the prize from former British boxing world champion Lennox Lewis and gathered members of his training team around him, he added: “I’d like to thank everyone who voted – I really appreciate your support.”
Brownlee, 28, became the first man to retain the Olympic triathlon title at Rio 2016, finishing ahead of brother Jonny, who claimed the silver.
The Yorkshireman later made headlines across the world when he selflessly helped his exhausted brother over the line in a dramatic end to the Triathlon World Series in Mexico.
Skelton, 58, claimed individual show jumping gold at Rio 2016, becoming Britain’s second oldest Olympic gold medallist, 16 years after initially retiring with a neck broken in two places.
In his acceptance speech, Scot Murray said: “I’d also like to thank my family. I think my mum is in the crowd there [in Birmingham]. I’d like to thank my dad as as well, who just got married 10 days ago. I miss you guys.
“A huge thanks to my wife and my daughter – she won’t know what this means yet, but maybe in a few years she will.
“Actually, 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.”
The other winners in Sunday’s awards ceremony were:
Young Sports Personality of the Year: Ellie Robinson: the Swimmer claimed gold in the S6 50m butterfly final with a Games record at the Rio Paralympics, aged 15.
Team of the Year: Leicester City: the Foxes stunned the world with their shock Premier League triumph last season.
Coach of the Year: Claudio Ranieri: Leicester’s Italian manager was named top coach after overseeing the remarkable campaign.
Lifetime Achievement: Michael Phelps: the record-breaking American swimmer, 31, won his 23rd Olympic gold in his final Games in Rio in August.
Overseas Sports Personality of the Year: Simone Biles: the 19-year-old American broke new ground with a series of dazzling routines as she secured four gold medals at the Rio Olympics.
Helen Rollason: Ben Smith: the charity runner completed 401 marathons in 401 days after battling back from injury to pass his fundraising target of £250,000.
Sport’s Unsung Hero: Boxing club founder Marcellus Baz provides free classes to hundreds of young people at his Nottingham School of Boxing, with some even dreaming of reaching the Olympics.
Helen Shaw: Well done Andy Murray. Well deserved. As is Alistair Brownlee in second place.
Sideburns Kev: Great to see Nick Skelton and Alistair Brownlee being recognised.
Allan Blair Beaton: Nice waaaaaan @andy_murray! Another #SPOTY for the cupboard. Well done!
Former British number one Annabel Croft on BBC Radio 5 live:
He’s never worried what people thought of him and he’s become one of the most popular sportsmen in the country.
I feel as if he can go on and dominate quite significantly in 2017.
Murray began the year by reaching the Australian Open final, but lost to Novak Djokovic in straight sets.
After the match, speaking shortly before the birth of his first child, he said: “To Kim, my wife, who is going to be watching at home. You’ve been a legend. I’ll be on the next flight home.”
Murray was beaten again by Djokovic at the French Open final in early June, but within two weeks he was crowned Wimbledon champion for a second time, adding to his 2013 title, when he ended Britain’s 77-year wait for a men’s champion.
In August he defended his men’s singles Olympic title with victory over Argentina’s Juan Martin del Potro in an epic final in Brazil.
And another win over Djokovic at the ATP World Tour Finals – Murray’s first title at the season-ending event – ensured he would end 2016 as world number one.
Speaking during Sunday’s ceremony in Birmingham, before he won the award, Murray said 2016 had been “the best year in my career”.
Asked about how becoming a father had affected him, he added: “I have loved it. It was a challenge obviously and it made me realise tennis isn’t the most important thing.
“Away from the court I am a lot happier now I’m not thinking about tennis all the time as I used to and that’s helped me on the court.”
More to follow.
Andy Murray receives the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award for an unprecedented third time – but reveals he was not wife Kim’s choice of winner.