The Rob Daly Award, part of The Herald's annual sports awards, is presented in memory of city diver Tom Daley's dad.
Plymouth schoolgirl Esperanza as an able-bodied player, won 42 tournaments around the world before she was diagnosed with a severe hip infection called septic hip arthritis which was further complicated by septicaemia. She was 11 years old at the time.
But just months after undergoing a series of major operations, Merry took up wheelchair tennis and is now on course to represent Great Britain at the 2016 Rio Paralympics.
She is already Britain's number one junior player and number six in the world.
Merry, who has season warm-up tournaments in Preston and Bolton, said she was delighted to receive her trophy.
"I'd like to thank everyone who has supported me and I'm really delighted to win the trophy. It's going to be a pretty busy year for me, because I've got 17-18 tournaments coming up, but it's all part of getting ready for Rio."
Read more