Six of Australia's leading tennis players are in the running for the prestigious Newcombe Medal, which will be presented at the Australian Tennis Awards in Melbourne on Monday night. Australia's top-ranked men's player Alex de Minaur, who is on the cusp of a career-high top-10 ranking, is among the favourites, alongside newly-crowed world No.1 women's doubles player Storm Hunter. The other four nominees to be crowned Australia's most outstanding player in 2023 are Matt Ebden, Rinky Hijikata, Alexei Popyrin and Matt Purcell, with medal namesake John Newcombe set to present the award. The now retired Ash Barty won the award for a record fifth time in 2022. There will be 13 additional awards to celebrate the achievements and contributions of tennis clubs, volunteers, officials, coaches, schools and talented junior players. "2023 has been a remarkable year for Australian tennis with many career-best rankings, grand slam titles, a new world No.1 and back-to-back Davis Cup finals appearances," said Tennis Australia boss Craig Tiley. "While we have an outstanding cohort of professional players excelling on and off the court and providing tremendous inspiration to the next generation of Australian players, this special event is also a wonderful opportunity to acknowledge our grassroots tennis community and everyone involved in the delivery of our great sport." Australian Associated Press