Leylah Fernandez and
Felix Auger-Aliassime have won the 2023
Tennis Canada Excellence Awards in different categories.
Both are often termed as the most highly-rated players in
the women’s and men’s categories currently playing in the country. Despite not
having a great year at the highest level, Fernandez and Auger-Aliassime won the Player
of the Year and Singles Player of the Year, respectively.
The development was announced by Tennis Canada in a post on their
official account on social media platform X — previously known as Twitter. Fernandez,
who is a one-time runner-up in the Grand Slam, played in the main round of all
the four major tournaments in 2023 but could not manage to qualify for the third
round or beyond in any of the competitions.
She knocked out of the Australian Open, French
Open and Wimbledon after losing the second-round tie. In the US Open, the
21-year-old was knocked out after losing the first-round tie to Russia’s Ekaterina
Alexandrova with a score of 7-6, 5-7, 6-4.
On the other hand, Aliassime also played in the main round
of all four Grand Slams and only managed to qualify for the fourth round or
beyond just once. His best outing came in the Australian Open where he was knocked
out after losing the fourth-round clash to Czech Republic’s Jiri Lehecka with a
score of 4-6, 6-3, 7-6, 7-6.