Women’s tennis star Emma Raducanu has been named the Hickok Belt® Award winner for September 2021. Voting was conducted by a select panel of members of the National Sports Media Association (NSMA). The voters selected 18-year old tennis phenom Emma Raducanu based on her 2021 US Open victory. She stepped up against some of the best in the world, winning a Grand Slam tournament and without dropping a set, defeating Leylah Fernandez. The last all-teenage women’s singles final was between Serena Williams and Martha Hingis in the 1999 US Open. Raducanu has achieved more in one month than any other pro tennis player in history and became the first British woman to win a Grand Slam tournament since 1977.
Other finalists for September, in order of how the NSMA ranked them, included Daniil Medvedev (tennis), Justin Tucker (football), Juan Soto (baseball), Max Fried (baseball), Russell Wilson (football), Patrick Cantlay (golf), Cristian Ronaldo (soccer), Oleksanfr Usyk (boxing), and Nasa Hataoka (golf).
Her selection as the Hickok Belt® Award winner for September 2021 recognizes Emma Raducanu as the “best of the best” in professional sports for the month and makes her the ninth candidate eligible to receive the overall Hickok Belt® Award for 2021, joining Athing Mu, Caleb Dressel, Shohei Ohtani, Phil Mickelson, Hideki Matsuyama, Luka Doncic, Naomi Osaka, and Patrick Mahomes. Winners, as selected by the NSMA, will be announced each month throughout 2021.
The Hickok Belt® Award was presented annually from 1950 to 1976. Past recipients include a list of the 20th century’s elite athletes, including the likes of Muhammad Ali, Arnold Palmer, Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays, Jim Brown, and others who defined their sports. To learn more about the history of the Hickok Belt® Award and keep up with all the news surrounding the award in 2021, visit hickokbelt.com.
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