Leylah Fernandez and Felix Auger-Aliassime took home top honors at the 2021 Excellence Awards, as the duo were rewarded for their exceptional seasons by Tennis Canada.
Fernandez was named female player of the year and most improved female player for the second consecutive year. The 19-year old had a breakthrough season, winning her maiden WTA title at Monterrey before stunning the world by finishing runner-up at the US Open. Her exceptional performance saw her rake in over $1.3 million this year and rise in the rankings from World No.88 to end the year ranked World No.24.
Auger-Aliassime was named the male player of the year and also received most improved male player honors. The 21-year old became the first Canadian man to reach the semifinals of the U.S. Open and also reached the final eight at Wimbledon, finishing the season at No. 11 in the ATP rankings.
Furthermore, he reached the finals at Stuttgart, Germany, and at Melbourne, Australia. He had wins over four top-10 players — Alexander Zverev, Matteo Berrettini, Roger Federer and Diego Schwartzman.