Simply comes down to the votes, of course. Most of my votes this year so far have been for senior singles players - they are by far my main interest and my first consideration each month if not always my final vote. But others such as yourself, with doubles and wheelchair, vote more in other directions.
I guess there is some truth in many of the singles players more having cumulative great years than standout months. Though most months I have still been most won over by a senior singles player, though again that is my bias.
I am now almost certain to make that men's singles wildcard nomination. There are various, to my mind, fairly spectacular stats for their year in general, with our WR 120 to 200 men, and maybe even moreso the burgeoning numbers in the 300s. And so many tities.
Would you be nominating all GB men? Or a specific set? Eg our top 500 men? Or our top 200/250 men? Or maybe our Challenger Tour men? Or something? All men feels quite wide?!
I was thinking almost certainly some subset. But I'm fairly unclear for now as to what will be best to go with.
2025 Player of the Season Qualifiers List: Alicia joins the party!
1) Andy Lapthorne - Australian Open Wheelchair Quad Doubles, Quad Wheelchair Singles #1
2) Alfie Hewett and Gordon Reid - Australian Open and French Open Wheelchair Mens Doubles
3) Alfie Hewett - Australian Open Wheelchair Mens Singles, Jan PoM RU
4) Henry Patten - Australian Open Mens Doubles, Jan PoM
5) Oliver Bonding - Feb PoM
6) Fran Jones - Feb PoM RU, July PoM, Aug PoM RU
7) Jack Draper - Mar PoM, Men's singles #1
8) Liv Nicholls - Mar PoM RU, Jun PoM; Women's Doubles #1
9) Sonay Kartal - Apr PoM, Sept PoM
10) Megan Knight - Apr PoM RU
11) Jay Clarke - May PoM
12) Anna McBride - May PoM RU
13) Oli Tarvet - Jun PoM
14) Julian Cash/Lloyd Glasspool - Wimbledon Mens Doubles Champions, July PoM RU, August PoM
15) Emma Raducanu - Women's singles #1
16) Hannah Klugman - Junior girl's #1
17) Lucy Shuker - Womens Wheelchair Singles #1
18) Alicia Dudeney - Sept PoM RU
19) Mika Stojsavljevic - Oct PoM
20) Emily Webley-Smith - Oct PoM RU
Two new qualifiers take us to 20. 11 women and 9 men in the list; several juniors as well. And one over 40!
Current qualifiers list - of these, Henry, Julian/Lloyd and Alicia are in the November PoM vote currently; Jay is in action today and may get into November PoM. The other PoM contenders arent into PoS yet.
As per above we have 22 PoS qualifiers so far. December PoM may add one or two and the wildcard vote will take us to 28 qualifiers.
The way it will work is the 28 will be split into 4 groups of 7. From each group, the top 3 plus any ties will go to the semis. No play off votes in round one.
The 12 (plus ties) will be split into 2 semifinal groups of 6 (or more if there were ties).
From the semis, 2 (plus any ties) will proceed to a final. Again, no play off voting.
The final will then comprise the top 4 (plus any ties). If the final has a tie at the end, there WILL be a play off vote to determine the overall Player of the season.
In terms of the round one groups - they are organised to provide a balance to each group:
I want to avoid these groups being unbalanced and so players have been organised into men/women, singles/doubles, juniors, wheelchair/para tennis. Where possible, players from each of these groups will be evenly spread across the 4 round one groups. This way, for example, we avoid all the wheelchair players being in one group or all the doubles players, or a group with 7 women and another with none.
Many people tend to vote with a prior "bias" to one or another and this avoids, where we can, people having to choose between all of their favourites being in the same group at the start.
At this point, we have 12 women/girls qualified, as an example - each group would have 4 women in it. We have 4 doubles players/pairs qualified (2 mens, 1 womens, 1 wheelchair). Each group will have 1 of these in it (allowing for the fact that the womens doubles player is also in the womens allocation, ditto the other players appear in more than one allocation group). Similarly, the wheelchair players total 4 and there is going to be one in each group.
It is very much like the FIFA World Cup draw, but it is actually quite easy and works well and we have always ended up with well balanced groups - and the draft groups this year look to be v well balanced again.
But - there will certainly be some that see their favourites clashing - that is life, so don't complain! And it would be the same with a completely random allocation as well and probably less well balanced. With 3 players and ties progressing, anyone deserving of the PoS title will survive and progress. The past few years, we have had a final grouping of 4 or more that most people would concur are a well deserving bunch, with very few major raising of the eyebrows. Although, we have had surprises, for sure, and it has been v tight in some voting - not least last seasons final, which went all the way!
-- Edited by JonH comes home on Monday 8th of December 2025 11:38:02 AM
2025 Player of the Season Qualifiers List: here is the list of players qualified and those trying to still qualify:
1) Andy Lapthorne - Australian Open Wheelchair Quad Doubles, Quad Wheelchair Singles #1
2) Alfie Hewett and Gordon Reid - Australian Open and French Open Wheelchair Mens Doubles
3) Alfie Hewett - Australian Open Wheelchair Mens Singles, Jan PoM RU
4) Henry Patten - Australian Open Mens Doubles, Jan PoM, Nov PoM RU
5) Oliver Bonding - Feb PoM
6) Fran Jones - Feb PoM RU, July PoM, Aug PoM RU
7) Jack Draper - Mar PoM, Men's singles #1
8) Liv Nicholls - Mar PoM RU, Jun PoM; Women's Doubles #1
9) Sonay Kartal - Apr PoM, Sept PoM
10) Megan Knight - Apr PoM RU
11) Jay Clarke - May PoM
12) Anna McBride - May PoM RU
13) Oli Tarvet - Jun PoM
14) Julian Cash/Lloyd Glasspool - Wimbledon Mens Doubles Champions, July PoM RU, August PoM
15) Emma Raducanu - Women's singles #1
16) Hannah Klugman - Junior girl's #1
17) Lucy Shuker - Womens Wheelchair Singles #1
18) Alicia Dudeney - Sept PoM RU
19) Mika Stojsavljevic - Oct PoM
20) Emily Webley-Smith - Oct PoM RU
21) Toby Samuel - Nov PoM
22) Katie Swan - Nov PoM RU
Plus Wildcard contenders:
1. Savannah Dada-Mascoll 2. Ben Jones 3. Mimi Xu 4. Hamish Stewart 5. Jake Fearnley 6. GB ITF men's singles players 7. Arthur Fery 8. Victoria Allen 9. Oliver Crawford 10. Lui Maxted 11. Jan Choinski 12. Wake Forest University Brits (Luca Pow & Charlie Robertson) 13. Brooke Black 14. George Loffhagen 15. Emily Appleton 16. Billy Harris 17. Cam Norrie 18. Luke Johnson 19. Jack Pinnington Jones 20. Alice Gillan 21. Harry Wendelken 22. Hollie Smart 23. Joe Salisbury/Neal Skupski 24. Johannus Monday 25. Blu Baker 26. Liam Broady 27: Joshua Paris 28. Ryan Peniston 29. Greg Slade 30. Katy Dunne
Plus players who are in the December PoM nominations and aren't in the lists above:
1. Edie Griffiths 2. Team GB Students 3. Eliz Maloney 4. Indianna Spink
5. Family Lumsden
Plus players not nominated in December but still in action: Melissa Boyden
So, however remote the chances are for some, that is 58 players still with some sort of chance of winning player of the season, as of writing this post.
-- Edited by JonH comes home on Tuesday 23rd of December 2025 10:27:32 AM
-- Edited by JonH comes home on Tuesday 23rd of December 2025 02:55:23 PM
-- Edited by JonH comes home on Wednesday 24th of December 2025 01:15:57 PM
2025 Player of the Season Qualifiers List: here is the list of players qualified and those trying to still qualify:
1) Andy Lapthorne - Australian Open Wheelchair Quad Doubles, Quad Wheelchair Singles #1
2) Alfie Hewett and Gordon Reid - Australian Open and French Open Wheelchair Mens Doubles
3) Alfie Hewett - Australian Open Wheelchair Mens Singles, Jan PoM RU
4) Henry Patten - Australian Open Mens Doubles, Jan PoM, Nov PoM RU
5) Oliver Bonding - Feb PoM
6) Fran Jones - Feb PoM RU, July PoM, Aug PoM RU
7) Jack Draper - Mar PoM, Men's singles #1
8) Liv Nicholls - Mar PoM RU, Jun PoM; Women's Doubles #1
9) Sonay Kartal - Apr PoM, Sept PoM
10) Megan Knight - Apr PoM RU
11) Jay Clarke - May PoM
12) Anna McBride - May PoM RU
13) Oli Tarvet - Jun PoM
14) Julian Cash/Lloyd Glasspool - Wimbledon Mens Doubles Champions, July PoM RU, August PoM
15) Emma Raducanu - Women's singles #1
16) Hannah Klugman - Junior girl's #1
17) Lucy Shuker - Womens Wheelchair Singles #1
18) Alicia Dudeney - Sept PoM RU
19) Mika Stojsavljevic - Oct PoM
20) Emily Webley-Smith - Oct PoM RU
21) Toby Samuel - Nov PoM
22) Katie Swan - Nov PoM RU
Plus Wildcard contenders:
1. Savannah Dada-Mascoll 2. Ben Jones 3. Mimi Xu 4. Hamish Stewart 5. Jake Fearnley 6. GB ITF men's singles players 7. Arthur Fery 8. Victoria Allen 9. Oliver Crawford 10. Lui Maxted 11. Jan Choinski 12. Wake Forest University Brits (Luca Pow & Charlie Robertson) 13. Brooke Black 14. George Loffhagen 15. Emily Appleton 16. Billy Harris 17. Cam Norrie 18. Luke Johnson 19. Jack Pinnington Jones 20. Alice Gillan 21. Harry Wendelken 22. Hollie Smart 23. Joe Salisbury/Neal Skupski 24. Johannus Monday 25. Blu Baker 26. Liam Broady 27: Joshua Paris 28. Ryan Peniston 29. Greg Slade 30. Katy Dunne
Plus players who are in the December PoM nominations and aren't in the lists above:
1. Edie Griffiths 2. Team GB Students 3. Eliz Maloney 4. Indianna Spink
5. Family Lumsden
So, however remote the chances are for some, that is 57 players still with some sort of chance of winning player of the season, as of writing this post.
2025 Player of the Season Qualifiers List: here is the list of players qualified and those trying to still qualify:
1) Andy Lapthorne - Australian Open Wheelchair Quad Doubles, Quad Wheelchair Singles #1
2) Alfie Hewett and Gordon Reid - Australian Open and French Open Wheelchair Mens Doubles
3) Alfie Hewett - Australian Open Wheelchair Mens Singles, Jan PoM RU
4) Henry Patten - Australian Open Mens Doubles, Jan PoM, Nov PoM RU
5) Oliver Bonding - Feb PoM
6) Fran Jones - Feb PoM RU, July PoM, Aug PoM RU
7) Jack Draper - Mar PoM, Men's singles #1
8) Liv Nicholls - Mar PoM RU, Jun PoM; Women's Doubles #1
9) Sonay Kartal - Apr PoM, Sept PoM
10) Megan Knight - Apr PoM RU
11) Jay Clarke - May PoM
12) Anna McBride - May PoM RU
13) Oli Tarvet - Jun PoM
14) Julian Cash/Lloyd Glasspool - Wimbledon Mens Doubles Champions, July PoM RU, August PoM
15) Emma Raducanu - Women's singles #1
16) Hannah Klugman - Junior girl's #1
17) Lucy Shuker - Womens Wheelchair Singles #1
18) Alicia Dudeney - Sept PoM RU
19) Mika Stojsavljevic - Oct PoM
20) Emily Webley-Smith - Oct PoM RU
21) Toby Samuel - Nov PoM
22) Katie Swan - Nov PoM RU
Plus Wildcard contenders:
1. Savannah Dada-Mascoll 2. Ben Jones 3. Mimi Xu 4. Hamish Stewart 5. Jake Fearnley 6. GB ITF men's singles players 7. Arthur Fery 8. Victoria Allen 9. Oliver Crawford 10. Lui Maxted 11. Jan Choinski 12. Wake Forest University Brits (Luca Pow & Charlie Robertson) 13. Brooke Black 14. George Loffhagen 15. Emily Appleton 16. Billy Harris 17. Cam Norrie 18. Luke Johnson 19. Jack Pinnington Jones 20. Alice Gillan 21. Harry Wendelken 22. Hollie Smart 23. Joe Salisbury/Neal Skupski 24. Johannus Monday 25. Blu Baker 26. Liam Broady 27: Joshua Paris 28. Ryan Peniston 29. Greg Slade 30. Katy Dunne
Plus players who are in the December PoM nominations and aren't in the lists above:
1. Edie Griffiths 2. Team GB Students 3. Eliz Maloney 4. Indianna Spink
5. Family Lumsden
So, however remote the chances are for some, that is 57 players still with some sort of chance of winning player of the season, as of writing this post.
And the POS runners and riders for 2025 confirmed as 57 players or pairs or teams still alive and kicking. All starts with the December PoM vote which commences later today!
2025 Player of the Season Qualifiers List: here is the list of players qualified and those trying to still qualify via the wildcards:
1) Andy Lapthorne - Australian Open Wheelchair Quad Doubles, Quad Wheelchair Singles #1
2) Alfie Hewett and Gordon Reid - Australian Open and French Open Wheelchair Mens Doubles
3) Alfie Hewett - Australian Open Wheelchair Mens Singles, Jan PoM RU
4) Henry Patten - Australian Open Mens Doubles, Jan PoM, Nov PoM RU
5) Oliver Bonding - Feb PoM
6) Fran Jones - Feb PoM RU, July PoM, Aug PoM RU
7) Jack Draper - Mar PoM, Men's singles #1
8) Liv Nicholls - Mar PoM RU, Jun PoM; Women's Doubles #1
9) Sonay Kartal - Apr PoM, Sept PoM
10) Megan Knight - Apr PoM RU
11) Jay Clarke - May PoM
12) Anna McBride - May PoM RU
13) Oli Tarvet - Jun PoM
14) Julian Cash/Lloyd Glasspool - Wimbledon Mens Doubles Champions, July PoM RU, August PoM
15) Emma Raducanu - Women's singles #1
16) Hannah Klugman - Junior girl's #1
17) Lucy Shuker - Womens Wheelchair Singles #1
18) Alicia Dudeney - Sept PoM RU
19) Mika Stojsavljevic - Oct and Dec PoM
20) Emily Webley-Smith - Oct PoM RU
21) Toby Samuel - Nov PoM
22) Katie Swan - Nov PoM RU
23) Team GB Students - Dec PoM RU
Plus Wildcard contenders:5 will qualify from the list below.
1. Savannah Dada-Mascoll 2. Ben Jones 3. Mimi Xu 4. Hamish Stewart 5. Jake Fearnley 6. GB ITF men's singles players 7. Arthur Fery 8. Victoria Allen 9. Oliver Crawford 10. Lui Maxted 11. Jan Choinski 12. Wake Forest University Brits (Luca Pow & Charlie Robertson) 13. Brooke Black 14. George Loffhagen 15. Emily Appleton 16. Billy Harris 17. Cam Norrie 18. Luke Johnson 19. Jack Pinnington Jones 20. Alice Gillan 21. Harry Wendelken 22. Hollie Smart 23. Joe Salisbury/Neal Skupski 24. Johannus Monday 25. Blu Baker 26. Liam Broady 27: Joshua Paris 28. Ryan Peniston 29. Greg Slade 30. Katy Dunne
A total of 53 players, pairs or teams are still in contention.
Having had a muse, Ive decided not to post any facts or details around the players in the PoS votes - past years, I have put basics like ranking change, win and loss record, titles.
This is harder to do fairly this year - partly with the GB Students making the PoS vote, partly with a few juniors with records in pro and junior play, or college and pro play. The stats are not entirely helpful in terms of helping people decide who has done the best.
In essence, it is a bit of work (and my time is short this year ) and doesnt add a lot of value. People will and can do their own research Or have their own perception and it is best to leave it to folks to make up their own minds.
I wont grumble of course, if people choose to do some stats, just in support of their vote - but Im not going to publish stats for all 28 qualifiers this time! And I think the vote will be cleaner and better for it! I will, however, say how they qualified for PoS - eg May PoM or AO Grand Slam winner.
ANd, for the wildcard votes, I will keep all the narrative write ups intact.
The narrative write ups, however, dont work for the main PoS event as the quality of them will vary and the depth, as well as some, at this stage close to the event, may not even get done. So, in the interest of parity going in, I will just state how a player qualified.
-- Edited by JonH comes home on Monday 29th of December 2025 11:18:00 PM
1) Andy Lapthorne - Australian Open Wheelchair Quad Doubles, Quad Wheelchair Singles #1
2) Alfie Hewett and Gordon Reid - Australian Open and French Open Wheelchair Mens Doubles
3) Alfie Hewett - Australian Open Wheelchair Mens Singles, Jan PoM RU
4) Henry Patten - Australian Open Mens Doubles, Jan PoM, Nov PoM RU
5) Oliver Bonding - Feb PoM
6) Fran Jones - Feb PoM RU, July PoM, Aug PoM RU
7) Jack Draper - Mar PoM, Men's singles #1
8) Liv Nicholls - Mar PoM RU, Jun PoM; Women's Doubles #1
9) Sonay Kartal - Apr PoM, Sept PoM
10) Megan Knight - Apr PoM RU
11) Jay Clarke - May PoM
12) Anna McBride - May PoM RU
13) Oli Tarvet - Jun PoM
14) Julian Cash/Lloyd Glasspool - Wimbledon Mens Doubles Champions, July PoM RU, August PoM
15) Emma Raducanu - Women's singles #1
16) Hannah Klugman - Junior girl's #1
17) Lucy Shuker - Womens Wheelchair Singles #1
18) Alicia Dudeney - Sept PoM RU
19) Mika Stojsavljevic - Oct and Dec PoM
20) Emily Webley-Smith - Oct PoM RU
21) Toby Samuel - Nov PoM
22) Katie Swan - Nov PoM RU
23) Team GB Students - Dec PoM RU
24) Cam Norrie
25) Mimi Xu
26) Arthur Fery
27) Joe Salisbury/Neal Skupski
28) Luke Johnson
Round One - 4 groups of 7; top 3 progress plus ties
Semis - 2 groups of 6+; top 2 progress plus ties
Final - 1 group of 4+ - winner takes all
There will be a small gap tomorrow and then the three rounds of player of the season commence on Saturday and run through until Sunday 11th January
The groups will all have 3 or 4 women and 3 or 4 men. The doubles players are spread evenly to avoid the mens doubles players clashing in round one; the wheelchair players are similarly kept apart and the junior girls are all separated as well. The aim is to create a balanced draw that enables all genres of our wonderful game to gain attention from the people who support the part they play in British tennis.
I am actually expecting to be overseas on business and flying out Friday 9th, so Indy has kindly offered to help manage the final itself over that final weekend.