MIAMI, 24 March 2005 — World No. 1 Roger Federer and Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova each received three honors Tuesday night at the inaugural joint ATP-WTA Tour awards ceremony.
The event, featuring the top names in the game on the eve of the start of the Miami Masters event, featured 19 awards won by 14 different men’s and women’s players.
Stars for Stars — A Celebration of Tennis Excellence, was among the first of what officials hope will be numerous joint initiatives between the two tours. Just over a week ago, players put on an exhibition for tsunami relief at the Indian Wells Masters.
An estimated 300-plus guests, including ATP CEO Mark Miles and WTA Tour boss Larry Scott, were on hand to welcome the crowd and present the top awards.
Sharapova won the Player of the Year honors and lifted Fans’ Favorite from a vote by WTAtour.com users. She also earned Most Improved Player of 2004.
Last season, the 17-year-old Russian claimed four titles, including her first career Grand Slam at Wimbledon and the season-ending championships.
Federer dominated the ATP awards as he did the 2004 season when he won 11 titles, including three Grand Slams, the Tennis Masters Cup and three ATP Masters Series titles.
The Swiss was named the 2004 Player of the Year and also won the Fans’ Favorite Award. Federer also was voted by his fellow players as the Stefan Edberg Sportsman of the Year, an award he received Tuesday from Todd Martin, a two-time winner of the award.
In a special presentation by South African author Mark Mathabane, Andy Roddick claimed the Arthur Ashe Humanitarian of the Year Award. The WTA Tour’s Diamond Aces Award went to Anastasia Myskina.
Comeback Player of the Year honors went to Serena Williams and Tommy Haas, while the ATP Most Improved honor went to big-serving Swede Joachim Johansson.
French teen Tatiana Golovin and 21-year-old German Florian Mayer were named the Newcomers of the Year. The WTA Tour Sportsmanship Award went to World No. 1 Lindsay Davenport while Virginia Ruano Pascual and Paola Suarez were named Doubles Team of the Year.
Mark Knowles and Daniel Nestor earned the ATP Doubles Team of the Year honors.
The Miami Masters was named the ATP Masters Series tournament of the year, while the Dubai Duty Free Men’s Open was voted the best International Series Gold tournament.
The Swedish Open in Bastad and the US Men’s Claycourt Championships in Houston shared the top honor as the best International Series tournaments, as voted by players.
The ATP’s Ron Bookman Media Excellence Award was presented to The Tennis Channel, which continues to showcase tennis to a growing subscriber base.
The network, which last week announced a multiyear affiliation with Comcast Cable, the leading cable operator in the United States, was on hand filming a behind-the-scenes special about Stars for Stars that will air on April 10.
