Tennis Europe has announced that Spain is to be presented with the 2011 European Tennis Trophy for Overall Tennis Performance.
The race to the Trophy, which takes into account the performances of representatives from all 49 Tennis Europe member nations across the main competitive disciplines of the sport throughout the year, was the closest-ever, with the top four nations separated by less than 250 points.
Spain’s Davis Cup by BNP Paribas victory at the end of the season was key to its success, securing the nation an 8th Professional Tennis Trophy as well as enabling them to leapfrog Russia, France and the Czech Republic to secure the Overall Performance crown for the fifth time, and first since 2002. In addition, Spain finished 5th in Junior Tennis, equalled its best ever performance in Seniors Tennis (#8), and recorded its highest ever finish (#4) in the Wheelchair Tennis category.
RFET President José Luis Escañuela said “It is a great honour for the Spanish Tennis Federation to receive this award, which acknowledges the efforts of people that work in all areas of our sport. This is a reward for their collective efforts and for the commitment of all our clubs, players and coaches across all categories. On behalf of all of them, I’d like to express my sincere thanks to Tennis Europe for this award.”
Elsewhere in the Professional Tennis category, 2010 winners Russia slipped to second place, ending just 22 points ahead of third-placed Czech Republic, who finished in the top three for a second time in three years. Neighbours Slovakia made the biggest climb, rocketing eight places to enter the top ten for the first time since 2005, at #9.
Russia reclaimed the Junior Tennis Trophy from France to win the category for the seventh time in eight years. Junior tennis provided some of the most remarkable year-on-year improvements, including those of Romania (from #8 to #4 in this subcategory), Croatia (#18 to #8), Switzerland (#21 to #12), Slovenia (#26 to #14), Estonia (#33 to #17) and Greece (#38 to #25).
Germany once again dominated the Senior Tennis Trophy, winning the title for a 21st consecutive year, with three times as many points as second-placed Italy, who beat Austria into the runner-up spot.
The Netherlands maintained a tight grip on the Wheelchair Tennis Trophy, having won the title each year since its inclusion in 2001. Great Britain ousted France to take second place for the first time since 2003.
Greece made the greatest leap forward, climbing from #38 last year to #28 overall, while three other nations (Slovenia, Estonia and Ireland) climbed nine spots. The Czech Republic was the only nation in Europe to improve on its 2010 position in all four categories, while six other nations improved their overall ranking for a second consecutive year, led by Great Britain and Romania (up to #7 & #8 respectively), Belgium (#11), Switzerland (#17), Estonia (#21) and Norway (#30).
Announcing the results, Tennis Europe President Jacques Dupré said, “I would like to congratulate the Spanish Tennis Federation for another outstanding year, both in individual and team events, as well as the federations of Russia, Germany and the Netherlands for their respective wins. A European Tennis Trophy victory represents not just the achievements of the players, but also the performances of coaches, administrators and federation staff across the continent. The closeness of this year’s Trophy underlines the health of European tennis in general, and Tennis Europe is looking forward to another year of cooperation and competition between our member nations.”
Established in 1990 to recognise and reward the annual achievements of Tennis Europe’s 49 member nations, the European Tennis Trophy effectively provides an end of year ranking of the performances of players and teams representing national tennis federations. The 2011 prizes will be awarded at a special ceremony during the Annual General Meeting of Tennis Europe in Lyon in March.
Complete 2011 Results
Final Ranking | Points per Country (A-Z) | Points per Category