Nominees for the 2021 ATP Awards were announced earlier this week. The Comeback Player of the Year, Most Improved Player of the Year, and Newcomer of the Year, and Sportsmanship Award will all be voted on by the players and will be announced later in December. Trophies will be handed out at the 2022 ATP Cup to recipients who are participating in that team competition.
Here are the lists in addition to my picks to win.
Comeback Player of the Year
Thanasi Kokkinakis
Mackenzie McDonald
Andy Murray
Jack Sock
Who will win? Andy Murray
Who should win? Andy Murray
Most Improved Player of the Year
Carlos Alcaraz
Aslan Karatsev
Cameron Norrie
Casper Ruud
Who will win? Casper Ruud
Who should win? Aslan Karatsev
Newcomer of the Year
Sebastian Baez
Jenson Brooksby
Juan Manuel Cerundolo
Hugo Gaston
Brandon Nakashima
Who will win? Jenson Brooksby
Who should win? Jenson Brooksby
Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship Award
Felix Auger-Aliassime
Rafael Nadal
Casper Ruud
Frances Tiafoe
Who will win? Felix Auger-Aliasssime
Who should win? Felix Auger-Aliassime
Coach of the Year
Craig Boynton (Hubert Hurkacz)
Gilles Cervara (Daniil Medvedev)
Juan Carlos Ferrero (Carlos Alcaraz)
Facundo Lugones (Cameron Norrie)
Christian Ruud (Casper Ruud)
Who will win? Juan Carlos Ferrero
Who should win? Facundo Lugones
Players will also vote on the Tournament of the Year in three different categories: Masters 1000, 500, and 250. Coaches will vote on the Coach of the Year and fans will vote on the ATPTour.com Fans’ Favorite (both singles and doubles). The ATP will determine the Arthur Ashe Humanitarian Award.
who ya got?
Most Improved Player of the Year
Carlos Alcaraz was a natural progression, and while he did improve a lot, it wasn’t ground-breaking (yet). He will probably win it in 2022.
Aslan Karatsev just turned on the switch, so I don’t think he improved, he just decided to start playing, and he became slightly inconsistent in the latter half of the year, which took a bit of the shine off his performances.
I think it’s a close contest between Norrie and Ruud (and Sinner, who surprisingly wasn’t nominated), and I’d be leaning towards Ruud due to the number of tournaments he won and the fact that he was very competitive on his weaker surfaces.
Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship Award
I’d give it to Taifoe because of the honesty, humor and entertainment he brings to the game. Yes, he does some incredible racquet throws, but it’s all done in good spirit. Sportsmanship isn’t about saying and doing everything people want to see and hear all the time. That actually makes me feel a bit uneasy to be honest because I don’t believe that’s how the world really works.
Coach of the year I would give to Riccardo Piatti because the bar was set very high for Sinner and he exceeded expectations. I think he’s a great chance at winning a major in 2022.
The other selections, I’m not going to argue with.