Comeback kid Novak Djokovic is the biggest winner at this year’s ATP World Tour Awards presented by Moët & Chandon.
Djokovic, who reclaimed the world No.1 position on Monday, has been voted the comeback player of the year following his stellar second part of the season. The Serbian returned to action in January after missing six months of the tour due to an elbow injury. After a mixed start to the season, where he underwent further surgery on his elbow in February, he has become a dominant force. Since June he has won four titles, including two at grand slam tournaments. Overall, he has won 31 out of 33 matches played on the tour since Wimbledon. His only losses was to Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas at the Rogers Cup and Karen Khachanov at the Paris Masters.
The 31-year-old has also secured the year-end No.1 position. It is the fifth time he has done so in his career and the first since 2015. In May he was ranked 22nd in the world. Djokovic’s coach, Marian Vajda, was also recognized for his achievements on the tour. Vajda reunited with Djokovic back in April. He has been voted Coach Of The Year by his peers.
20-time grand slam champion Roger Federer has once again topped the fans’ favourite category. It is the 16th consecutive year that he has been given the accolade, which is determined by popular vote. Federer currently has a Twitter following of 12.3 million people and a Facebook fan base of 14.6 million. A recent survey by YouGov named him the most popular tennis personality in the UK.
Rafael Nadal received the Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship award for the first time since 2010. An award that is given to players with the ‘highest level of professionalism and integrity’ that also promote tennis through off-court activities. Nadal only played in nine tournaments in 2018, but won five of those. Including a record 11th French Open trophy.
Next Gen duo recognised
As well as familiar faces, rising stars of the tour also shined. 20-year-old Tsitsipas was named Most improved player after setting a series of milestones for his country. The world No.15 has become the first Greek player to reach the last 16 of a grand slam (Wimbledon) and the First Greek man to win a ATP title. He is also the highest ranked player from his country in the history of the ATP rankings.
Meanwhile, Alex de Minaur is the first Australian to be named most improved player of the year since Mark Philippoussis back in 1995. De Minaur started the season at 209th in the world, but has climbed to a current ranking high of 31st. He has featured in two ATP Finals in Sydney and Washington.
Both Tsitsipas and de Minaur are playing in this week’s Next Gen Finals in Milan. Should they win their matches on Friday, they will play each other in the final on Saturday.
Full list of winners
- ATP World Tour No. 1 – Novak Djokovic
- Comeback Player of the Year – Novak Djokovic
- ATP World Tour No. 1 Doubles Team – Oliver Marach & Mate Pavic
- Most Improved Player of the Year – Stefanos Tsitsipas
- Newcomer of the Year – Alex de Minaur
- Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship Award – Rafael Nadal
- Arthur Ashe Humanitarian of the Year – Tommy Robredo
- ATP Coach of the Year – Marian Vajda
- ATPWorldTour.com Fans’ Favourite (Singles) – Roger Federer
- ATPWorldTour.com Fans’ Favourite (Doubles) – Mike Bryan & Jack Sock
- Ron Bookman Media Excellence Award – Sue Barker
- ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Tournament of the Year – BNP Paribas Open (Indian Wells)
- ATP World Tour 500 Tournament of the Year – Fever-Tree Championships (Queen’s Club)
- ATP World Tour 250 Tournament of the Year – Intrum Stockholm Open (Stockholm)
