Newk Medal nods for Barty, Kyrgios
ASHLEIGH Barty headlines the five nominees for the 2017 Newcombe Medal after completing an astonishing renaissance season.
The Queenslander has been named among the finalists along with former winner Nick Kyrgios, Daria Gavrilova, John Peers and Jordan Thompson.
Barty, 21, finished a glorious season with a career-high ranking of No.17 after starting the year ranked outside the top 200, having stepped away from tennis in 2014.
Her return to her first sporting love after a brief dalliance with cricket has stunned even former world champion Steffi Graf.
Her rise to Australian No.1 was built on a maiden WTA singles title in Malaysia in March and defeating four top-10 seeds en route to the Wuhan final in China in September.
“I am proud to be part of the Australian tennis family,” said Barty, whose coach, Craig Tyzzer, is among the nominations in the high-performance coaching excellence category.
“Being nominated for the Newcombe Medal is a huge honour for me and something I didn’t think possible in my first year back.”
In any other year, Gavrilova would probably be the favourite to win the medal.
She ended Sam Stosur’s 452-week reign as Australian No.1 in June and claimed her first WTA singles crown at New Haven, Connecticut, in August.
The Victorian also reached two other WTA singles finals this season.
Kyrgios will chase his second Newcombe Medal. Two wins over Novak Djokovic and success over world No.1 Rafael Nadal in Cincinnati were the highlights of the Canberran’s year.
Thompson’s biggest win of the season came over world No.1 and defending champion Andy Murray at Queen’s Club in June.
The tough Sydneysider reached a career-high mark of No.63. He also helped Australia to the Davis Cup semi-finals and won the Brisbane doubles with Thanasi Kokkinakis.
Peers and Finnish partner Henri Kontinen won the Australian Open doubles crown, adding Washington, Beijing and Shanghai to their collec- tion in another productive season.
Peers rose to world No.2 in doubles in April.
Tennis Australia chief executive Craig Tiley said the November 27 Newcombe Medal function would salute a wide range of tennis identities.
“We look forward to honouring the contribution of our tennis stars on and off the court at the Australian Tennis Awards,” Tiley said.
“We recognise the exceptional achievements of our athletes but also celebrate the influence our coaches, clubs, schools, volunteers and communities have had on the game across Australia during the past 12 months.”