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BIRMINGHAM, England (AP) Andy Murray has been voted BBC Sports Personality of the Year for a record third time after winning the Wimbledon and Olympic singles titles in 2016 and also finishing the season as the world’s top-ranked player.

Murray won the domestic award in 2013 and ’15, too.

The 29-year-old Murray capped the best season of his career by beating Novak Djokovic to win the ATP finals in London and claim a fifth straight title, earning him the year-end No. 1 ranking. He hasn’t lost since Sept. 16.

Two-time Olympic triathlon champion Alistair Brownlee was second in the voting and Olympic showjumping gold medalist Nick Skelton came third at a ceremony in Birmingham, central England.

Top British player Johanna Konta has hired Kim Clijsters’ former long-time coach Wim Fissette, according to The Independent.

Konta, who rose from World No. 47 at the beginning of the year to No. 10 at year-end, parted ways with her coach Esteban Carril after working together for two and a half years.

When asked about why she chose Fissette, Konta claimed good chemistry.

“Like with any relationship, it’s how you work together, the chemistry on court, so it was about finding that. He was the first coach I trialled and things are going well,” said Konta.

Konta insisted that her parting ways with Carril was not sudden.

MADRID (AP) Rafael Nadal has added former player and fellow Spaniard Carlos Moya to his coaching team ahead of the 2017 season.

The 14-time Grand Slam champion said in a statement Saturday that Moya will work together with Toni Nadal and Francis Roig.

”To have someone like Carlos, who is not only a friend but also a very important person in my career, is something special,” Nadal said. ”He will be next to me on my practice and competition.”

Moya, who won the 1998 French Open as a player, parted ways earlier this month with Milos Raonic after leading the Canadian to his most successful year on the tour. Raonic reached his first Grand Slam final at Wimbledon and moved up to a career-high ranking of No. 3. Moya had joined Raonic’s team in January.

”To be able to help Rafa is something special for me and I am sure that together with Toni, Francis and the rest of the team we have a great common project,” Moya said. ”Rafa is a special player and above all a great person and friend on which I have a lot of trust and confidence that will be able to continue winning important titles.”

Golden medalist Monica Puig defeated Maria Sharapova in a friendly invitational hosted by Puig on Thursday, December 15, 2016 in in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

23-year-old Puig won the match 6-3, 1-6 10-6.

In the first set, Puig won the first three games but Sharapova was able to break back. Puig broke again and took the set 6-3.

In the second set, Sharapova came firing. She played aggressive tennis, and made fewer errors than in the first set. She closed the set 6-1.

In the super tie-break, Puig got an early lead and was able to hold on to it, taking the match 6-3, 1-6, 10-6.

Former world No. 1 Dinara Safina has transitioned from player to coaching, according to ESPN.

Per ESPN article, 30-year-old Safina is now working as a tennis coach at MatchPoint NYC, a tennis facility located in Coney Island, Brooklyn.

The Russian was forced to retire from the tour at the age of 25 due to nagging back injury.

“Unfortunately, for me, because of my injury I had to retire early at 25.

“I could have played more, but I don’t regret it. What was done is done. I gave it 100 percent every day,” said Safina to ESPN.

Flavia Pennetta and Fabio Fognini are expecting their first child.

Pennetta, a former WTA player, announced the good news on Twitter.

The Italian couple married in June.

Pennetta retired in October, 2015 after winning her maiden Grand Slam at the U.S. Open. Her highest ranking was No. 1 in February 2011.

Fognini is ranked No. 49 on the ATP. His highest ranking was No. 7 in July, 2015.

Maria Sharapova retweeted a video of her practice match in San Juan, Puerto Rico. She’s set to play an exhibition match that Tennis Channel Plus will program live on Thursday, December 15, 2016.

Sharapova, who hasn’t played competitively for nearly a year, is not showing any rust.

#trainingPova in the house y’all Can’t wait to see @MariaSharapova in action again #MonicaPuigInvitational
: @JJlovesTennis pic.twitter.com/GmLvmqk5Bg

— Team Sharapova (@team_sharapova) December 14, 2016

The exhibition will feature the homecoming of 2016 Olympic Gold Medalist Monica Puig versus Sharapova, a five-time Career Grand Slam.

Andy Murray and Angelique Kerber, who respectively ended the year as No. 1, have been named ITF World Champions. It’s no surprise that Murray and Kerber were at the top of our list for top stories from 2016.

International Tennis Federation (ITF) tweeted the announcement.

Both players had stellar 2016, where we saw them reach the top of the ATP and WTA rankings (respectively).

Murray won nine titles in 2016 that included his second Wimbledon title, Olympics, three Masters and ATP Finals.

Watch Murray’s 2016 Year in Review.
Watch Kerber’s 2016 Year in Review:

Maria Sharapova retweeted a video of her practice match in San Juan, Puerto Rico. She’s set to play an exhibition match that Tennis Channel Plus will program live on Thursday, December 15, 2016.

Sharapova, who hasn’t played competitively for nearly a year, is not showing any rust.

The exhibition will feature the homecoming of 2016 Olympic Gold Medalist Monica Puig versus Sharapova, a five-time Career Grand Slam.

Puig, who stunned Angelique Kerber in the Olympics final, will host the exhibition in her home country.

Watch Monica Puig Invitational live on Tennis Channel Plus on Thursday December 15th at 6:30 PM ET.

Tennis meets music and monsters in Big Wild’s latest video for his new single “Invincible (feat. iDA HAWK),” which is out now via ODESZA’s Foreign Family Collective.

The “Invincible” video opens on a rundown tennis court where a young heroine battles a monster to an epic game of tennis in a five-set match.

Every flash of light and every stroke of the racket are perfectly timed to the music, illuminating Big Wild’s signature drum and horn flourishes.

The whole video is set on a tennis court.

Big Wild, a Santa Cruz native, has released singles, “Aftergold” ft. Tove Styrke and “Invincible,” which have gained popularity among the electronic world and reached #1 on multiple music blogs, including Hype Machine.

Have you ever wondered how tennis balls are made? If you have, you’re in luck.

Wired.com did a piece on the process of making tennis balls, which is quite interesting. It turns out big tournaments such as Grand Slams consume as much as 70,000 tennis balls each.

The video below, courtesy of Wired.com, shows the five steps of making the balls. The process includes crushing, compressing, sheeting, buffing, and felting.
 

There were so many interesting stories in 2016 such as Andy Murray and Angelique Kerber’s rise to the top of the rankings, respectively.

Here are Tennis Channel’s top stories of the season:

ATP

Andy Murray’s surprising year-end No. 1, Novak Djokovic’s career Grand Slam, Stan Wawrinka’s U.S. Open win, Roger Federer’s short season, Rafael Nadal’s injury issues, Juan Martin del Potro’s dramatic comeback, and ATP’s hot shots.

WTA

Tennis Channel’s Match of the Year goes to the first rubber of Great Britain versus Argentina Davis Cup semifinal tie.

After stunning Djokovic in the first round of the Olympics, del Potro defeated Andy Murray in a five-set thriller.

Del Potro won the first set 6-4 but Murray came back to win the next two sets.

Del Potro then won the next two sets, taking the rubber 6-4, 5-7, 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-4.

Murray had 35 aces versus del Potro’s 19, but del Potro made only 28 errors compared to Murray’s 48.

There were so many great shots in 2016 but Tennis Channel was able to narrow them down to three:

No. 3) Gael Monfils against Stephane Robert at the Australian Open

No. 2) Andy Murray versus Djokovic in Rome

No. 1) Juan Martin Del Potro against Cilic in the Davis Cup Final

Juan Martín del Potro arguably had the most gratifying story of 2016.

The 28-year-old, who has had three wrists surgeries that have kept him from the tour, made an amazing comeback in 2016.

Del Potro defeated Novak Djokovic in the first round of the Olympics, going all the way to the finals where he won the silver medal.

In November, Del Potro helped Argentina lift the Davis Cup trophy after they defeated Croatia.

Watch del Potro’s Year in Review:

 

Rafael Nadal looked good in the spring as he won Monte Carlo and Barcelona back-to-back on his best surface but that was short-lived as he had to pull out of before the third round of the French Open, his favorite slam, due to a bad wrist.

Nadal, a 14-time Grand Slam winner, missed Wimbledon and lost in the fourth round in New York.

Watch Nadal’s Year in Review segment:

 

17-time Roger Federer spent years as one of the “Big Four” on the men’s tour, but lately he’s been plagued by injuries.

The 35-year-old fell out of the top ten for the first time in fourteen years. He had to cut his season short due to a knee injury.

Watch Federer’s Year in Review segment:

Stan Wawrinka had not beaten a top-ten player in 2016 until the U.S. Open, where he was crowned the 2016 U.S. Open champion.

The 31-year-old defeated Novak Djokovic in the final match. He now has three Grand Slams including the Australian Open and the French Open.

Watch Wawrinka’s Year in Review segment:

Novak Djokovic lost his place at the top of the men’s rankings, but he did have a great season.

29-year-old Djokovic opened his 2016 campaign by winning his sixth Australian Open.

He followed that by winning the elusive French Open after numerous tries.

Watch Djokovic’s Year in Review segment: