Milos Raonic of Canada hits a return to Robin Haase of the Netherlands at the Paris Masters men's singles tennis tournament at the Palais Omnisports of Bercy in Paris, October 30, 2013.CHARLES PLATIAU/Reuters
Milos Raonic has been named Tennis Canada's male player of the year after making history this season.
The hard-serving 22-year-old from Thornhill, Ont., became the first Canadian to be ranked in the Top 10 on the ATP World Tour thanks to his runner-up performance at Rogers Cup in Montreal.
Raonic was the first Canadian to make the final since 1958.
He ended the season at No. 11, and also went 5-1 in Davis Cup action to lead Canada to its first-ever World Group semifinal appearance.
"In his young career, Milos has already hit so many pinnacles in Canadian tennis, and his commitment to continue developing as a player shows his potential is nowhere near being fully realized yet," said Michael S. Downey, president and CEO of Tennis Canada. "Milos, along with Vasek (Pospisil) and Daniel (Nestor), are helping to grow Canada's reputation as a tennis nation."
Pospisil, from Vancouver, won most improved player, while Toronto's Nestor won the male doubles player of the year award.
Raonic added two other trophies to his collection, winning his third straight San Jose title in February and ousting two Top 10 players — Richard Gasquet and Tomas Berdych — en route to the Bangkok title in September.
Pospisil earned most improved player after climbing nearly 100 spots in the rankings. After closing 2012 at No. 125, he finished this past season at a career-high ranking of No. 32.
Nestor won the male doubles award for the 13th consecutive year after a season that saw him reach two more career milestones. En route to capturing the Winston-Salem title in August with partner Leander Paes, Nestor became the first player to reach 900 career doubles match wins.
It also marked the 20th consecutive year in which he has clinched at least one ATP World Tour title. The 41-year-old was also key to Canada's Davis Cup success, as he and Pospisil won two marathon doubles matches against Italy and Serbia.
The Tennis Canada awards are selected by a committee of Tennis Canada personnel and the countries top national coaches. The recipients of the women's awards will be announced on Tuesday.