France has claimed the European Tennis Trophy for overall performance for a fifth time, edging last year’s winners Russia into second place to return to the top of Europe’s league table for the first time since 2010.
Consistency and overall prowess were the keys to the French victory. The nation also won the Professional Tennis Trophy, thanks to strong performances in the sport’s team competitions (a Fed Cup by BNP Paribas runner-up spot and Davis Cup semi-final) and a plethora of highly-ranked players at the end of the season. France also almost doubled their 2015 Junior Tennis Trophy points tally, but Russia held on to that title for a sixth successive year, comfortably beating the Czech Republic into second place.
The Netherlands regains sole possession of the Wheelchair Tennis Trophy, having shared the title last year with Great Britain for the first time. Britain’s second-place finish of 919 points still represented a 7% increase on last year’s winning total, but the performances of Dutch players at the World Team Cup and at the Paralympics were impressive enough to secure outright victory.
The will be no surprise winner of the Senior Tennis Trophy this year, as Germany retains the title it has held every year since the launch in 1991. The margin of Germany’s victory was as striking as ever, with the nation earning almost five times as many points as second-placed Austria.
Four of the 50 nations posted improvements on their 2015 performance by eight positions or more, led by Greece (up 15 spots to #21) and closely followed by Georgia (up 13 #26). Estonia and Luxembourg leapt 9 and 8 spots, to finish at #28 and #27 respectively. Three nations – France, Great Britain and Spain – appear in the Top 10 of each of the contributing categories, as well as in terms of overall performance.
Announcing the results, Tennis Europe President Jacques Dupré said, “I would like to congratulate all of our member nations for another excellent year in which Europe has led the world in tennis performance. Presented in partnership with David Lloyd Leisure, these awards reflect the efforts of many thousands of players and coaches across the continent and highlight the important role that national federations of all sizes play in organising and developing our sport. Tennis Europe’s role is to support our members as they carry out these duties, and we are looking forward to another year of cooperation and consolidation in 2017.”
French Tennis Federation President Jean Gachassin commented, “We are obviously delighted to receive this honour. It is not the first, but the fifth time that we have won the European Trophy, which highlights the consistency and commitment of the work of the federation on a daily basis. This first place is also a reflection of the sports policy put into place by our national technical department. Finally, it is a tribute to the work of our coaches at all levels: from the club to the regional or federal training structures, through the various teams that represent France.”
Established to recognise and reward the annual achievements of Tennis Europe’s member nations, the European Tennis Trophy takes into account the performances of players and teams representing national tennis federations across four disciplines of the sport throughout the season. The awards will be presented at a special ceremony during the Annual General Meeting of Tennis Europe in Sochi in March.
Full Results
Results by Nation 1-50 | Results by Nation A-Z | Results by Category
For a detailed explanation of how the points are calculated, please click here.
