Russia Repeats European Tennis Trophy Success
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Jonathan Jobson
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01/07/08 - Russia has made history by winning three of the five available European Tennis Trophy presented by Lindström titles for a third consecutive year, retaining the prestigious Overall Tennis Performance category.
The 2007 win is the most decisive yet for Russia, and sees the nation increase its winning margins in all three areas. Notably, Russia was also the only country to maintain or raise their positions in all of the contributory categories, a further illustration of the growth of all sectors of the sport in Tennis Europe’s largest member nation.
Reacting to the news, Russian Tennis Federation President Shamil Tarpishev commented, "Last year we were thrilled to become the first nation to defend three trophies, and to repeat this defence for a second successive year is simply incredible. Russian tennis is now seeing the fruition of many years of hard work and the success of our junior and professional players in particular suggests that we can continue to go from strength to strength. We thank Tennis Europe for this recognition, and look forward to future success in the European Tennis Trophy."
Whilst Russia extended their lead over second-placed France to over 1,000 points, the most marked improvements in the all-important Professional Tennis category came from Sweden, who jumped seven places to enter the top ten at #7, and Israel, who climbed ten spots to reach #13, their best-ever showing in the category.
Russia’s fourth consecutive junior title was one of few constants in a year that saw a number of Eastern European nations make great strides in the realm of Junior Tennis. Bulgaria showed the most improvement, leaping an impressive 15 places to tenth, whilst the Czech and Slovak Republics, Romania, Croatia and Belarus also ascend within the top 10.
Germany won the Seniors Tennis prize for the seventeenth consecutive year, though the win was notable for it’s much-reduced margin in comparison to previous victories. Italy rose to second place, usurping long-standing runners-up Austria for the first time.
The Wheelchair Tennis Trophy was awarded to the Netherlands for the seventh time. The nation has yet to be beaten since the category was introduced in 2001.
Announcing the results, Tennis Europe President John James said “Russia’s success in the competition in recent years can be attributed not just to the outstanding achievements of their top stars, but to the hard work and dedication of players and teams of all age levels and abilities, as well as the efforts of the national tennis federation which in recent years has invested in first class facilities and provided increased tournament playing opportunities. On behalf of Tennis Europe, I congratulate them, as well as the Federations of Germany and the Netherlands, on their repeated wins. I’d also like to take this opportunity to thank Lindström for their valuable support in presenting the Trophy.”
In 2007, Tennis Europe introduced a revised European Tennis Trophy presented by Lindström points system, devised to provide a comprehensive overview of the performance-based achievements of players and teams representing Europe’s national tennis federations throughout the year.
The European Tennis Trophy presented by Lindström prizes will be awarded at the Annual General Meeting of Tennis Europe in Copenhagen, Denmark in March.
Links:
For full results, and a detailed explanation of how the points are calculated, please visit www.tenniseurope.org/TennisEurope/Te_European_Tennis_2007.aspx.
