Each year Middlesex Tennis recognises success within the County and the contribution that people make to that success at all levels of the game.

The awards fall into 3 main categories; 10 British Tennis Award winners, the Middlesex Tennis competition awards and the performance awards relating to County Cup events. The British Tennis Awards were introduced 4 years ago as a way of recognising and rewarding individuals, clubs and organisations for their contribution to the development of British Tennis. Television presenter Marcus Buckland was on hand to present the 2018 awards at the Queen’s Club.

The 2018 Player of the Year award went to Harriet Dart who reached the semi finals of the 2018 Wimbledon Mixed Doubles, qualified for the Australian Open and was selected for the 2019 Great Britain Fed Cup team.  Peter Neathey received the Lifetime Achievement Award. Peter’s coaching journey started in the late 1980’s on park courts in North London before he was recruited to work for the next 15 years at South Hampstead Tennis Club in Brent. During his time at South Hampstead he coached and played an integral part in the development of top players such as Alex Bogdanovic, Anne Keothavong, Luke Milligan and Harriet Dart. All of who have gone on to compete at Wimbledon and had international success.

The other Middlesex Tennis Awards were as follows:

Education Provider of the Year: Max Hastings Playground Tennis

Playground Tennis provides free Mini Tennis sessions to primary school children in West London. Their unique programme delivered sessions to around 4,000 primary school children last year providing them with a fun and enjoyable introduction to tennis.

Disability Award: Westway Sports Centre                                    

Westway work in partnership with the LTA and Middlesex Tennis to offer high quality, affordable tennis sessions to young autistic people as part of their “ACEing Autism” programme.

Community Venue of the Year: Cambridge Gardens                                    

The community venue selected to receive this award embraces and excels at many of the LTA tennis programmes that are available, these include the Quorn Family Cup, Team Challenge events, Miss Hits sessions and Tennis Tuesdays.

In 2018 they delivered 18 Tennis for Kids courses across their 4 community sites in the Borough of Richmond all of which were sold out resulting in 180 new children taking part in tennis.

Competition Award: Middlesex Mini Tennis Masters                                    

This competition was introduced to the Middlesex tournament schedule last year with the objective to increase the number of Mini Tennis Red players competing regularly.All matches played as part of this tournament schedule feed into a Leaderboard with the top boys and girls invited to a final at Paddington Recreation Ground alongside the Middlesex 14 & under Road to Wimbledon Final. This provided a great opportunity for players to play against other top players in Middlesex as well as developing friendships with other players and parents.

Official of the Year Award: Emily McGuiness                                    

Emily had a very busy 2018 completing no fewer than 60 days as a Chair and Line Umpire. She has performed at all levels of the game including Wimbledon and the Fever Tree Championships at the Queens Club. Away from these prestigious events she worked at a local club level assisting with tournaments at Our Lady of Muswell, Finchley Manor, Cumberland, Hurlingham and Totteridge to name but a few.In August last year she qualified to become internationally certified as an ITF White Badge Chair Umpire.

Volunteer of the Year Award: Marina Foxlee                                                

The Volunteer of the Year Award went to Marina who has been an active member of her club, Gunnersbury Triangle LTC,for the past 30 years. During this time she has adopted various roles and is currently chair of the tennis committee. She has provided vision, structure and energy to the committee that has seen extensive refurbishment of the club's facilities both on and off court and a 25% growth in membership over the past 2 years.

Young Person of the Year Award: Hrithik Arasalingam                                    

Hrithik has assisted as a volunteer with the tennis coaching programme at David Lloyd Northwood for the past two years.

In addition to helping with the coaching sessions he also assists with tournaments and the club’s schools outreach programme. Happy to turn his hand to whatever needs doing, often working off his own initiative without the need to be asked. He is an asset to the coaching programme at Northwood and is an inspirational young man who has all the qualities to succeed in whatever chosen profession is lucky enough to attract him.  

Club of the Year Award: The Avenue LTC                                    

Membership at this club has grown from 22 to 240 over the past 6-years. This is in no small part due to the hard work and commitment of this club’s volunteer committee and head coach.

They are a very community focused club, growing their membership base mainly via word of mouth within the local area. With only 3-courts and being tucked away they are often referred to as the ‘Best kept secret in Finchley’.

Coach of the Year Award: Maria Eracli                        

Maria received tremendous support from the players and parents that she coaches. Here are just a few of the things they said about her from the nominations received:

‘She started coaching my son 9 months ago. He was 5 and full of energy, totally lacking focus and exhausting everyone! Since then he has progressed from using his racket as a make-believe weapon to be a member of the DL tennis squad. He simply loves tennis, her ability to harness a pure ball of energy and give it focus and direction is nothing but miraculous’.

Another parent said…

‘In her lessons everything is fun - the kids really respect her, and they love tennis because of her. She gets results so has a cult following but why we like her so much is that she makes tennis so enjoyable for our children.’

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The Middlesex Individual and Team Competition Awards go to players and teams who have excelled in Middlesex County Competitions and Leagues over the past year. Competition is at the heart of all counties with over 8 000 players competing in Middlesex Team Competitions.

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2018 Road to Wimbledon Girls County winner:  Jessica Miller.

2018 Road to Wimbledon Girls County winner:  Leo Silverston.

2018 18 & under Girls County Championship winner: Veronika Hughes.

2018 18 & under Boys County Championship winner: Maxwell Douglas.

Middlesex Tennis Winter Mixed Cup 2017-18: The Queens Club.

2018 Middlesex Tennis Women’s Summer Cup: The Cumberland Club.

2018 Middlesex Tennis Men’s Summer Cup: The Queens Club.

2018 Middlesex Women’s Summer League: The Cumberland Club.

2018 Middlesex Men’s Summer League: The Lensbury Club.

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A number of awards were made both to individuals and teams to recognise and celebrate success in the area of performance tennis.

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Special Award – 9 & under County Cup Team (SE Regional Champions)

Alice Haddad, Anita Singh, Hollie Smart, Mika Stojsavljevic, Denzel Darkey, Trian Lakha,,,Michael Wilson, Leo Wright Captains: Linda Jones, James Mott

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Special award: –16 & under Boys County Cup Team (SE Regional Champions)

Maxwell Douglas, Oliver Foran, Mark Miscevic, Louis Quaynor, Mattias Southcombe

Captains: Shola Roper, Otto Buchholdt.

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Special award  – 14 & under Girls County Cup Team (National Champions)

Andrea Pineda, Mayela Bassega, Ranah Stoiber, Given Roach, Imogen Haddad, Roksolana Werbowy Captain: Claire Taylor

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Special award: 18 & under Girl National Champions

Camilla Gretschel, Andrea Pineda, Scarlett Hutchinson, Ranah Stoiber, Given Roach, Mayela Bassega, Yemisi Ifederu, Essence Martins

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Middlesex Team of the year: 12 & under Boys County Cup Team (National Champions)  Kim Sikka, Luca Bluett, Tom Chapman, Ben Khan, Josh Ioannou

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County Cup Captain of the Year – Nigel Buckman

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Check out our Middlesex Tennis Awards Page here.

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