Denied last year, Ash Barty will claim another slice of tennis history with a fourth consecutive Newcombe Medal.
Tennis Australia on Monday revealed the prestigious award will return in 2021 after being cancelled last year because of the coronavirus pandemic.
But Australian tennis's night of nights has been abandoned for another year, with the awards ceremony to be held remotely on December 17 instead of a glitzy function as COVID-19 continues to wreak havoc in Victoria.
At least Barty will be recognised following another memorable season, the 25-year-old's best yet.
The world No.1 added the Wimbledon crown and four other titles to her 2019 French Open trophy to be a lay down misere for another major gong.
In any other year but 2020, Barty would have been a shoo-in last year as well to be crowned Australian tennis's most outstanding performer despite stellar seasons also from Alex de Minaur, John Millman and Jordan Thompson.
De Minaur made his maiden grand slam quarter-final last year at the US Open, where Thompson reached the second week of a major for the first time, while Millman nabbed his first ATP title in Kazakhstan.
In 2020, the Queenslander successfully retained her season-ending world No.1 ranking after landing her eighth career title in Adelaide in January before reaching the Australian Open semi-finals under intense pressure as the top-seeded big local hope.
But the pandemic forced officials to cancel the "Newks" for the first time since their inception in 2020.
Barty will be the first player since Samantha Stosur to capture four Newcombe Medals, let alone in succession, eclipsing Stosur's hat-trick from 2010 to 2012.
