ITF to Honour, Nadal and Wozniacki

Written by: Staff on 30th May 2011

ITF to Honour, Nadal and Wozniacki

Rafael Nadal of Spain serves to Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia during their fourth round match for the French Open tennis tournament at Roland Garros in Paris, France, 30 May 2011. EPA/KERIM OKTEN |

French Davis Cup captain Guy Forget will be presented with the ITF’s highest accolade, the Philippe Chatrier Award, at the 2011 ITF World Champions Dinner on Tuesday 31 May in Paris at the Pavillon d’Armenonville.

The World Champions Dinner will celebrate the achievements of the 2010 ITF World Champions. Former British Davis Cup player and current television broadcaster Andrew Castle will host the evening, with ITF President Francesco Ricci Bitti presenting the awards to the World Champions, with the distinctive trophies once again designed by internationally-recognised sculptor Laurence Broderick.

This year’s recipients are singles champions Rafael Nadal (ESP) and Caroline Wozniacki (DEN); doubles champions Bob and Mike Bryan (USA), and Gisela Dulko (ARG) and Flavia Pennetta (ITA); junior champions Juan Sebastian Gomez (COL) and Daria Gavrilova (RUS); and wheelchair champions Shingo Kunieda (JPN) and Esther Vergeer (NED), who will collect her trophy for a record 11th year.

Forget receives the Philippe Chatrier Award for his achievements in and support of Davis Cup and Fed Cup by BNP Paribas, with an influence in both ITF team competitions that extends far beyond his own country.

The Frenchman reached his pinnacle as a player in 1991, when he achieved a career-high singles ranking of No. 4 and won six titles. He hit the headlines at the 1991 Davis Cup Final in Lyon, where he overcame rising American star Pete Sampras in the decisive fourth rubber to hand victory to France over a USA team that also included Andre Agassi.

That triumph ended a 59-year title drought for the French in Davis Cup and launched the nation into a new phase in the historic team competition. Forget went on to win another Davis Cup title as a player, contributing the vital doubles point in France’s 1996 victory over Sweden in Malmo. By the time he retired from the competition in 1997, he had compiled a 38-11 record in 26 ties representing his country.

Forget became captain of both the French Davis Cup and Fed Cup teams in 1999, taking over both roles from his friend Yannick Noah. He led the French Davis Cup team to the 1999 final in Nice, losing to Australia, but got revenge in 2001 when he captained France to a 3-2 victory over Australia on grass in Melbourne. It was France’s ninth Davis Cup title.

Forget has now been Davis Cup captain as long as he was a player – 12 years – and he remains a passionate advocate of the competition, one who inspires players to take part and gets the best out of them when they do. He has led teams to two more finals, in 2002 losing to Russia in Paris, and in 2010 losing to Serbia in Belgrade.

In five years as Fed Cup captain, Forget led France to the title in 2003 with a 4-1 victory against USA in Moscow. France returned to the final in Moscow in 2004, losing to Russia in Forget’s last tie as captain.