Saturday, November 23, 2024

Sharapova headlines International Tennis Hall of Fame ballot

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The International Tennis Hall of Fame announced its nominees for induction in 2025 on Tuesday, with former WTA World No.1 Maria Sharapova headlining the ballot joined by American doubles stars Bob and Mike Bryan, as well as Canada’s Daniel Nestor.

Sharapova, who is bidding to become the first recent WTA player to be enshrined since Conchita Martínez in 2020, spent a total of 408 weeks in the Top 5 and is one of only 10 women all-time to achieve a career Grand Slam in singles.

Along with her victories at Wimbledon in 2004, the US Open in 2006, the Australian Open in 2008 and Roland Garros in 2012 and 2014, Sharapova captured the WTA Finals at Los Angeles in 2004 for 36 career titles overall. She also won the Olympic silver medal at London in 2012, when Serena Williams took home the gold.

Over the next month an official voting group comprised of tennis journalists, historians and Hall of Famers, will cast their ballots. On-court achievements will be considered, along with off-court impact and role in growing the sport.

Additionally, for the sixth year, fans can have their say, with polls open for voting until Sept. 12 at vote.tennisfame.com.

To be elected to the Hall of Fame, candidates must receive an affirmative vote of at least 75 percent or higher from the combined total of the official voting group result, and any bonus percentage points earned in the fan vote.

Sharapova is in good company. The Bryan brothers topped the ATP rankings for 438 weeks and are the most successful men’s doubles team in history, winning 16 major titles, along with Olympic gold at London 2012 for a career Golden Slam. Individually, Mike Bryan owns the most doubles major titles of any man (18) along with four major titles in mixed doubles, while Bob Bryan owns seven mixed majors.

Nestor, who is on the ballot for the second time, is a 12-time major champion, having won eight titles in doubles and four in mixed doubles. He also achieved a career Golden Slam in doubles and topped the ATP doubles rankings for more than 100 weeks. He is the first player — singles or doubles — to capture all nine ATP Masters 1000 titles and the first to win 1,000 career doubles matches.

The class of 2025 will be announced next month. In a break from tradition, induction celebrations are scheduled for Aug. 21-23, 2025 in Newport, Rhode Island. For many years, the ceremonies have been held in July, during an ATP event held at the historic venue.

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