Tennis Players of the Month - Federer, Serena are July 2012 winners

July 2012: Roger Federer and Serena Williams

WTA Player of the Month: Serena Williams (wins 5th Wimbledon title, 14th Grand Slam)
Runner-Up: Agnieszka Radwanska (reached first Grand Slam final, career high no.2 ranking)

ATP Player of the Month: Roger Federer (won 7th Wimbledon title, extends record to 17 Grand Slam wins, ties all-time total weeks as world no. 1)
Runner-Up: Andy Murray (reached first Wimbledon final)

June 2012: Rafael Nadal and Maria Sharapova

WTA Player of the Month: Maria Sharapova (won French Open to complete career Grand Slam)
Runner-Up: Sara Errani (reached first Grand Slam final, top 10 debut)

ATP Player of the Month: Rafael Nadal (won record 7th French Open title)
Runner-Up: Novak Djokovic (reached first Roland Garros final)

May 2012: Roger Federer and Serena Williams

WTA Player of the Month: Serena Williams (won Madrid, undefeated in clay for 2012)
Runner-Up: Maria Sharapova (won Rome, Madrid quarterfinalist)

ATP Player of the Month: Roger Federer (won Madrid, Rome semifinalist)
Runner-Up: Rafael Nadal (won Rome)

APRIL 2012: There is a week left before tennis tournaments starting in April concludes, but there is no denying the April 2012 tennis players of the month. Both world #2 players in the ATP and WTA tours registered wins over their top-ranked rivals to reverse a losing trend. In men's tennis, Rafael Nadal won his first two tournaments of the year in back-to-back fashion as he captured his 8th Monte-Carlo title and 7th Barcelona trophy WITHOUT THE LOSS OF A SINGLE SET! He dominated world #1 Novak Djokovic in a commanding performance in Monte-Carlo reversing a streak of seven straight losses to his rival since the start of last year's season.

In women's tennis, there were two strong contenders for the tennis player of the month. 13-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams won her first title of the season by overwhelming opponents at the Charleston tennis tournament in early April. She breezed through the field without the loss of a set and losing no more than three games each in the semi-final and final matches. Serena also scored two wins in leading the US Fed Cup team back to the world group thus scoring the most matches won of any player for this month. But it is Maria Sharapova who scored the weightier wins this month as she abolished three reigning Grand Slam champions to win her first title this year in Stuttgart. Sharapova downed US Open champ Sam Stosur in the quarterfinal stage, then beat Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova and Australian Open champion and world #1 Victoria Azarenka both in straight sets to lift the title. Thus, Sharapova edges Serena in this month's WTA Player of the month contest.

MARCH 2012: There were two major tournaments in March 2012 - both in the United States. The BNP Paribas Open 2012 held at Indian Wells boasted $1 million in prize money for the singles winners, while the Sony Ericsson Open 2012 held in Miami had a lesser prize but an equally outstanding field as well. Roger Federer won the Indian Wells tennis tournament but was surprised in the third round of the Miami tournament by a resurgent Andy Roddick. Novak Djokovic failed to defend his title at Indian Wells falling to John Isner in the semifinals, but bounced back and defeated Andy Murray to capture the Miami tennis tournament. Between Federer and Djokovic, Djokovic got the edge for winning more matches in the month of March and he is the ATP Tennis Player of the Month.

On the women's side, there were three outstanding players who were clearly on top of the field. World #1 Victoria Azarenka won the Indian Wells tournament and lost in the quarterfinals of the Miami tennis tournament to Marion Bartoli and thus, ending her 26-match win streak to start this season. World #4 Agnieszka Radwanska had a similar result - she won in Miami but lost to Azarenka in the quarterfinals of Indian Wells. Maria Sharapova also performed solidly in March being the only player to reach the finals of both tournaments. But the player of the month award goes to at least a tournament winner which disqualifies Sharapova. Azarenka and Radwanska have similar matches won and one title each, but Azarenka gets the player of the month award by virtue of her win over Radwanska at Indian Wells.

FEBRUARY 2012: There were a total of eighteen ATP and WTA tennis tournaments contested for February 2012 held at different venues worldwide - from Sao Paulo, Brazil to Dubai, UAE and from Kuala Lumpur to Paris. In the ATP tour, Roger Federer and David Ferrer were both double tournament winners this month, while Juan Martin del Potro and Milos Raonic each won a tournament and finished runner-up in another. The ATP Tennis Player of the Month - February 2012 goes to Roger Federer for winning 2 ATP 500 tennis tournaments in Rotterdam and Dubai.

On the WTA tour, Angelique Kerber, Victoria Azarenka and Agnieszka Radwanska each won a premier-level tournament. The WTA Tennis Player of the Month - February 2012 goes to Agnieszka Radwanska for winning in Dubai, UAE and reaching the quarterfinals in Doha and Kuala Lumpur. Both Federer and Radwanska will most certainly be considered amongst the favorites to do well in March as tournament play shifts to the two biggest tournaments in the United States outside of the US Open grand slam - the Indian Wells and Miami tennis tournaments.

JANUARY 2012: After an incredible fortnight at the Australian Open 2012 in Melbourne, two outstanding players came out as winners of this blog's "Tennis Player of the Month". The first ever winners of the Tennis Player of the Month award are Novak Djokovic and Victoria Azarenka. Djokovic continued his mastery of rival and world #2 Rafael Nadal in a memorable 5-set victory which displayed his mental toughness and his hunger for Grand Slam success. He know stands above the rest of the ATP Tour tennis players and is now on the verge of a personal Grand Slam having won the last three Grand Slams in a row. Azarenka's win at the first Grand Slam of the year finally realized a promise for the young, talented Belorussian who many have predicted to one day win a Slam. She did it in impressive fashion eliminating the defending champion Kim Clijsters in the semifinals before dominating Maria Sharapova in two quick sets in her first ever major championship final. The win propelled Azarenka to the top ranking in women's tennis where she is projected to be challenged by Sharapova and Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova. Congratulations to Novak Djokovic and Victoria Azarenka for being named as the January 2012 Tennis Player of the Month.

Tennis Player of the Month Criteria: This award recognizes the ATP Tour and WTA Tour players that had the best achievements for a given month. Grand Slam winners will automatically be awarded the tennis player of the month award. For example - the Australian Open winners will win the January Tennis Player of the Month award; the French Open winners will win the June Tennis Player of the Month award; the Wimbledon champions will win the July Tennis Player of the Month award; and the US Open champions will be given the September Tennis Player of the Month award. The November Tennis Player of the Month will be given to the WTA Season-Ending Championships winner on the women's side, while on the men's side, the award will be given to the winner of the ATP World Tour Finals.

The Tennis Player of the Month award for the months of February, March, April, May, August, and October will be awarded to the tennis player that wins at least one tournament for the month, and ranks in the top 3 "tennis player of the month" online poll for tennis fans in a yet to be determined website.

The December Tennis Player of the Month award will also get the Tennis Player of the Year award. It will be awarded to the men and women's tennis player who will fulfill the following criteria:
(a) won at least one Grand Slam in the calendar year,
(b) finishes in the top 3 in the year-end ATP tour or WTA tour ranking, and,
(c) finishes in the top 3 "tennis players of the year" online poll for tennis fans in a yet to be determined website.

To all tennis fans, this blog wishes to come out with a monthly recognition of tennis achievement by awarding the "Tennis Player of the Month".