As tennis’s finale gets under way in London, it is the season of appraisals, of measures, of best-evers and best-of-the-years. It is award time, when the ATP announces its winners in a whole range of categories.
Perhaps the most familiar, and the most professionally significant, is the year-end No1, which is handed to the man who stands at the top of the rankings with the most points in the calendar year—though this year the winner has still not been determined between Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic.
Some of the awards are also informed by the rankings, with players voting for the winner from a shortlist: The Most Improved Player; the Comeback Player; the best tournaments during the season.
A couple of awards are decided by the ATP itself: the Ron Bookman Media Excellence award is one.
The last of them, though, is simply determined by a ballot—and the voters are simply tennis fans.
This year, Roger Federer has proven his across-the-board popularity by winning three awards, one from each voting constituency: The ATP, fellow players and fans.
Not content with winning the plaudits of his colleagues by winning the Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship Award for the ninth time, he has taken one of the most coveted tributes of all, the Fans’ Favourite Award.
And should anyone think his global popularity is inevitable in the light of the 32-year-old’s longevity on the tour and durability in the rankings, he won his first Fan’s Award in 2003, the year he won his first Grand Slam at Wimbledon but before he reached the No1 ranking. He has won the Fans’ vote every year since, a total of 11 times.
The Federer style of play—an elegant, all-court melding of power, touch and intelligence—charmed tennis fans across the generations from the very start, but his continued popularity has much to do with his accessibility, win or lose. This is abundantly clear on court, after practice or match, when he works his way around the waiting crowds, signing, shaking hands, having his picture taken with anyone who asks. But look behind the scenes, too, and he does it all over again with the faithful lines of fans at the equivalent of the stage door.
Even since his recent induction to Twitter, it has been his interaction with fans that has stood out. First it was a couple of “Ask RF” sessions, then an “Answer RF” session trended across the Twitter-sphere. Asked by one to describe his fans, he replied: “peRFect”.
Such support will undoubtedly give him a warm glow, but the other two awards this year will surely give Federer great personal satisfaction. He has won the vote of fellow players for his sportsmanship every year since 2004 except once, in 2010. And he is only the third player to win the Arthur Ashe Humanitarian Award twice. Federer last won it in 2006.
His mind this week will, no doubt, be on trying to win a record seventh ATP World Tour Finals trophy in his record-equalling 12th consecutive year in the tournament. But after what has, by his own admission, been “a difficult year”, increasing his tally of ATP awards to 27—especially with these particular tributes—will be more welcome than ever.
Nadal makes his own bit of history
As winner of Comeback Player of the Year, Nadal became the first to win awards in all the player-voted categories. The 27-year-old won the Newcomer award in 2003, Most Improved in 2005 and the Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship trophy in 2010. He was also awarded as the Arthur Ashe Humanitarian in 2011 and is still favourite to win the end-of-year No1 title for the third time (2008, 2010).
ATP No1
Nadal and Djokovic battle for this in London. Both are two-time winners.
ATP No1 Doubles Team
Bob and Mike Bryan win for a fifth successive year and record ninth overall. The 35-year-old twins guaranteed their year-end No1 ranking on 19 August, the earliest ever by a doubles team. They won the Australian Open, Roland Garros and Wimbledon, making them the first team to hold all four Majors and the Olympic gold medal at the same time.
ATP Star of Tomorrow Award (new category)
Jiri Vesely was the youngest player to finish in the top 100 rankings (as of 28 October). Vesely, who began the season ranked outside the top 250, broke into the top 100 in July, two days before his 20th birthday, and reached a career-high No78 by August.
Most Improved Player of the Year
Pablo Carreno Busta The Spaniard climbed from a year-end No715 last season to a career-high No66 in 2013, including 35 straight match wins and seven titles from eight finals the Futures circuit. He reached the Oeiras semi-finals and made his Grand Slam debut at Roland Garros. Other nominees were Ivan Dodig, Fabio Fognini and Stanisla Wawrinka.
Comeback Player of the Year
Rafael Nadal After being sidelined for seven months with a left knee injury, the Spaniard made his return in February to claim 10 titles, including an eighth Roland Garros crown, a second US Open championship, and a record-tying five Masters trophies. Other nominees were Somdev Devvarman, Tommy Robredo and Dimitry Tursunov.
Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship Award
Roger Federer Fellow players voted the Swiss as the winner for the ninth time. Juan Martin del Potro, David Ferrer and Rafael Nadal were also nominated.
Arthur Ashe Humanitarian of the Year
Roger Federer Awarded for his Foundation, established in 2003, which continues to support children in Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Malawi, South Africa and Ethiopia and his native Switzerland. In February, he visited the Hlukani and Govhu creches in the Limpopo Province of South Africa.
ATPWorldTour.com Fans’ Favourite
Roger Federer The Swiss received 56 per cent of all votes cast. Rafael Nadal finished second, followed by Novak Djokovic and Juan Martin del Potro.
ATPWorldTour.com Fans’ Favourite (Doubles)
Bob and Mike Bryan The twins received 43 per cent of votes to win for a record ninth time. Leander Paes and Radek Stepanek came second, followed by Julien Benneteau and Nenad Zimonjic.
Ron Bookman Media Excellence Award
Bendou Zhang The Shanghai-based Zhang is the tennis writer for Titan Sports, China’s most successful sports newspaper. A journalist for more than 20 years, two years ago he became the first person from his country to join
Tournaments of the Year will be announced in 2014
Categories: ATP World Tour Masters 1000, ATP World Tour 500, ATP World Tour 250