Samantha Stosur awarded inaugural Newcombe Medal

Written by: Staff on 6th December 2010

Samantha Stosur awarded inaugural Newcombe Medal

Samantha Stosur (AUS) |

Samantha Stosur was awarded the inaugural Newcombe Medal at the Newcombe Medal, Australian Tennis Awards in Melbourne tonight.

The Queenslander, 26, received the accolade for being Australia’s most outstanding elite player in 2010.

The Newcombe Medal is named to recognize the achievements of Australian tennis legend John Newcombe, who had the honor of presenting Stosur, current world No. 6, with the first ever medal.

The Newcombe Medal is the premier award on a night that recognizes service to tennis at all levels – club, coaches, players, volunteers, community and officials.

“I think it is a great honor,” Stosur said. “It is a really good initiative of Tennis Australia to put a night like this together for everyone to celebrate our sport. So to be the first winner of the Newcombe Medal is very special.

“Tennis is such a huge part of our culture in Australia, we’ve obviously got a great history and we’re trying to continue that now.

“You can only have that with clubs around the nation.

“I think for them to get the recognition for doing their best – putting in new courts, updating facilities, and having members and getting people out there playing is fantastic and getting recognition for that will help them strive and do more and do whatever they can.”

The other finalists for this prestigious Award category were Jarmila Groth (Vic), Lleyton Hewitt (SA) and Anastasia Rodionova (Vic).

Another highlight of the evening was the presentation of the Spirit of Tennis Award to Australia’s No. 2 ranked male player Peter Luczak, a Davis Cup stalwart, in recognition of his outstanding leadership, passion, sportsmanship, goodwill and dedication to the sport, as well as his major contribution to the stature of tennis.

David Taylor, Samantha Stosur’s Coach and Australian Fed Cup Captain, was also recognized for his exceptional coaching performance in the sport this year by being awarded the Coaching Excellence, High Performance Award.

The winners for the Award categories are as follows:

Coaching Excellence – Club

Brett Lennard, ACT

Coaching Excellence – High Performance

David Taylor, NSW

Coaching Excellence – MLC Tennis Hot Shots

Matthew Bull, WA

Excellence in Officiating

Kerrilyn Cramer, Vic

Junior Athlete of the Year (Female)

Ashleigh Barty, QLD

Junior Athlete of the Year (Male)