Murray Comeback, Nadal Sportsmanship among 2019 awards

The 2019 ATP Awards winners were announced earlier this week, once again featuring a nice mix of veterans and youngsters. Among the recipients were Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray, Roger Federer, the Bryan Brothers, Matteo Berrettini, and Jannik Sinner.

Although the Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship Award will probably be renamed for Federer at some point in the future, it is Nadal who has now won it twice in a row. It is the third overall Sportsmanship Award for the Spaniard. The other nominees were Federer, Dominic Thiem, and Diego Schwartzman.

Murray, who famously “retired” at the 2019 Australian Open only to return from hip surgery later in the season and capture both a singles and doubles title (Antwerp and Queen’s Club, respectively) was named Comeback Player of the Year. Also in the mix were Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Andrey Rublev, and Stan Wawrinka.

Fan Favorites were Federer–for the 17th time in a row–in singles and Bob and Mike Bryan in doubles. It was the Bryan Brothers’ 14th such honor.

The Most Improved Player was Matteo Berrettini. Ranked 54th going into the season, the 23-year-old Italian made an improbable debut appearance at the Nitto ATP Finals. His breakout 2019 campaign included two titles and a semifinal showing at the U.S. Open.

Perhaps nobody, however, was as surprising as Daniil Medvedev. The Russian soared to No. 5 in the world thanks mostly to a ridiculous stretch of six consecutive finals–including at the U.S. Open. He also captured Masters 1000 titles in Cincinnati and Shanghai. As a result, Gilles Cervara won Coach of the Year.

This year’s longest list of nominees were those players who have been around for the shortest amount of time. In the running for Newcomer of the Year were Sinner, Felix Auger-Aliassime, Miomir Kecmanovic, Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, Alexei Popyrin, Casper Ruud, Corentin Moutet, and Mikael Ymer. Sinner, the NextGen ATP Finals champion, emerged victorious.

Kevin Anderson earned Humanitarian of the Year honors. The veteran South African supports charitable causes such as First Serve (helps under-served children in Palm Beach County), Dezzy’s Second Chance Animal Rescue in South Florida, and Ocean Conservancy’s Trash Free Seas Alliance. He raised more than $100,000 through Cause for the Paws last December and recently hosted his third charity event, Courtside Cause. Anderson has also aided poverty-stricken children in Zambia.

The year-end No. 1 awards, of course, had already been determined. Nadal clinched that singles distinction during the Nitto ATP Finals, while Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah did the same in doubles. 

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