Russia has reclaimed its position as the top-performing country in European tennis, edging defending champions Germany into second place in order to claim the European Tennis Trophy for Overall Performance for a sixth time. The Czech Republic, Great Britain, Netherlands and Germany also won titles in the annual awards, which recognise tennis performance across a number of key categories.
Russia’s overall victory can once again be attributed in large part to another outstanding year in Junior Tennis, with the nation collecting the Junior Tennis Trophy for an eleventh time in the last twelve years, and fifth in succession. The margin of victory over second-placed Czech Republic was greater than the number of points earned by third-placed Poland. Russia also rose from seventh to fourth in the all-important professional tennis category, increasing its points tally by over a third from 2014.
Reacting to the news, Russian Tennis Federation President Shamil Tarpishev said, "The decade since we received our first Overall Performance Award has not been easy, and the competition has been strong. But year by year we have managed to prove that the 2005 award was no accident. This year we also won our 13th Junior Trophy. We have a big team and I would like to thank them for their great self-sacrificing work. We are very proud to be a significant part of Tennis Europe, and we thank the European Tennis Federation for its titanic efforts in strengthening the leadership position of European tennis in the world. We also recognise and very much appreciate the work of all European tournament organisers, who provide the conditions that enable our players to give their best performances."
The Czech Republic retained the Professional Tennis Trophy for a fourth consecutive year, thanks in no small part to another Fed Cup by BNP Paribas victory. Just 50 points separated the Czechs from second-placed France, while Spain followed close behind.
Great Britain has ended 15 years of Dutch dominance of the Wheelchair Tennis Trophy. For the first time ever, two nations will share a title as the two leading performers were inseparable, ending the season tied with 863 points each. The Brits have been moving closer and closer to the top position in recent years, but this was the first occasion since the inclusion of the Wheelchair Tennis category in 2001 that a Netherlands victory had been seriously challenged. With bonus Paralympic points on offer in 2016, the coming season looks set to see some intriguing battles.
The Wheelchair Tennis win helped Britain move into sixth place overall – the nation’s best-ever performance, a feat greatly bolstered by the Davis Cup by BNP Paribas victory at the end of the season. Other notable achievements include that of Poland; an exceptional year saw the nation reach a best-ever ranking of 8th overall, a significant rise of eight places. Other nations on the rise include Belgium (from 18th to 10th), Croatia (19th to 13th) and Turkey (32nd to 23rd). Malta also attained its highest ever position of #25. The result is largely due to the efforts of the nation’s outstanding junior talent Helene Pellicano, a winner at the Tennis Europe Junior Masters amongst many other titles in 2015.
There were no surprises in the Senior Tennis Trophy category, where Germany continues to dominate, having won all 25 editions of the award. The margin of victory was as impressive as ever; the winners scoring almost three times as many points as second-placed Austria, with Italy, France and Spain rounding out the Top 5.
Tennis Europe President Jacques Dupré commented, “I would like to commend all of the national tennis federations that comprise Tennis Europe on another year of progress and development. In particular, I’d like to congratulate the five trophy-winning nations, and especially Russia for their overall achievements. Maintaining such high levels of performance in any of the contributing categories year after year is a perfect illustration that a federation is performing well. Having said that, success in these awards is also due to the performances of individual athletes and teams, as well as the coaches, clubs, academies and tournaments that make Europe such a vibrant tennis community.”
Established in 1991 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 next Annual General Meeting of Tennis Europe, due to be held in Chisinau, Moldova in March.
For full results, and a detailed explanation of how the points are calculated, please click here.
2015 Final Standings
Results by Position 1-49 | By Country A-Z | By Category
