Congratulations to the 2024 D.F.O. Players of the Year, John, Kevin, Ben, Ken, Bob, and Rami!
With the end of the 3.0 season and the USTA officially announcing the new NTRP ratings, we can finally announced the most anticipated 3.0 awards in the land (and by "land" we mean Ohio)! So congratulations to the following D.F.O. award winners!
3.0er of the Year
John Keller (Paramount Westlake)
Singles Player of the Year
Kevin Dieterich (Paramount Westlake)
Doubles Player of the Year
Ben Zagorski (Medical Mutual & North Ridge)
Doubles Team of the Year
Ken Luke & Bob Nicolay (Paramount Westlake)
Captain of the Year
John Keller (Paramount Westlake)
Special 3.0er of the Year
Rami Hanna (Wickertree)
In the closest vote to date, John emerged victorious as the 3.0er of the Year thanks to his impressive 20+ wins as both a Player and a Captain! As a player, John was among the leaders in overall wins and playoff wins and as a Captain, John led his beloved Paramount Westlake to five total titles, including Paramount's first ever State Championship! When all was said and done, John not only doubled up his D.F.O. awards, taking both the 3.0er of the Year and Captain of the Year, but he also became the first 3.0er since 2004's Barry Bastian to win both awards in the same season!
Kevin, a stalwart singles player for Paramount Westlake and a key reason for their historic 3.0 State Championship run, enjoyed a fantastic final 3.0 season, going 15-0 in all singles matches, including an undefeated 3-0 3.0 playoff run! What a way to depart 3.0 (as Kevin has been promoted to the professional 3.5 league) ... with the Singles Player of the Year award!
In doubles, another close vote shook the D.F.O. to it's very (flabby) core as multiple qualified nominees existed. However, at the end of the day, the phrase "this isn't about who is the best tennis player; it's about who is the best 3.0 tennis player" proved decisive! And, with the most doubles wins - and overall wins, as it turned out - in all of O-H-I-O, Ben took home his first ever D.F.O. award, the D.F.O. Doubles Player of the Year!
The tag-team award was also a close one, but in this instance the Voting Committee didn't overthink it and indeed went with arguably the best player - and tandem - in the area, Paramount Westlake's Ken and Bob! Ken, with the best winning percentage of any player with more than 20 wins, and Bob went undefeated as a tandem during 2024, going 8-0 in league play and 4-0 in playoff play, helping their club to five total team titles along the way! And now it's time to add one more title to their name - the Doubles Team of the Year title!
Wrapping up the awards was no small task, as several candidates were worthy of Special 3.0er of the Year recognition, but in the end, Captain Rami Hanna of Columbus-based Wickertree won over the D.F.O. crowd just like he won over most of Columbus by leading a Columbus-based club to a State title for the first time in D.F.O. history!
Congrats to all of this year's winners and good luck next year, whether that be in 3.0 or the nigh-professional 3.5 leagues!
And feel free to read about all the D.F.O. Players of the Year, past and present, here!
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