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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thoughts?
I’m mostly ok with who won the awards. Murray is of course a sentimental favorite. The award is a very nice “Welcome back!” present, but I wonder if it isn’t a bit premature. I hope he can live up to the expectations in the upcoming season.
The sportsmanship award has really puzzled me for quite a while. Color me surprised that Rafa won the sportsmanship award again!! Not that he doesn’t deserve it – but wasn’t that award reserved for Fed as long as he is active and probably even after he retired??😁😁😁 And is there never another player who might deserve it as well? What on earth has Fed done that he hasn’t won this award TWO YEARS IN A ROW😉?
Btw, why has Novak never won the award? Is Novak less popular amongst the average journeymen than Roger and Rafa? Is there an inherent problem because his name doesn’t start with an R? Do the players who vote, really mean it? Or do they just want to get it over with at the end of the year and simply vote for one of the two highest ranked fan favorites whose names start with an R and whose nation start with an S? Could Novak qualify if his parents had named him Radogan? Maybe, Radogan Djokovic from Serbia could even be a huge fan favorite and the Wimby crowd may have chanted “Rado, Rado, Rado” instead of “Roger, Roger, Roger”. It might even have an impact on the GOAT debate. It’s really a huge oversight by Mum and Dad Djokovic!😉
It’s a nice idea that the players themselves vote each year for the guy who in their own eyes has always been very fair. The players have the best insight after all and know how everybody conducts himself not just oncourt but also behind the curtains. But I simply cannot believe that every year for almost two decades the same two players (and mostly only one player) are those who deserve it more than all other players. This tells me that those who vote probably don’t really think very hard about this.
Suggest you read the definition of the Sportsmanship Award. I think the players vote for the guy they think best represented tennis to the world. Roger and Rafa have been the two that put the most bodies in the seats pretty much forever and I think that carries a lot of weight with the players.
That does make some sense. If it ist about the image and representation of tennis to a wider audience, Roger and Rafa are indeed the most reckognized tennis players on our planet ☺ A journey man would be less suitable even if he is a shining beacon of fairness. It doesn’t explain, though, why Novak, who has been the most successful player of the last decade, has never won the award. The players who vote apparently think that he is less suitable for representing men’s tennis.
Well, Novak’s Serbian fans post all over the internet that everyone hates Serbia and Serbians. Maybe it’s true. *shrug*
Been trying to post this , but keeps disappearing. Tennistv are now showing some of the classic rivalry ATP matches (Slams excluded) going back to the Sampras-Agassi era. Quite a few are gems which Ive never seen before .
This award is different from fan favourite award when fans get to vote. Why would the players want to vote for Fed or Rafa only, and not Thiem or someone else (who’s also nominated)? They have their rights to vote for whoever that’s nominated. If they vote for Fed, then someone would say it’s always Fed, if it’s Rafa they asked why Rafa and not Fed???
So, are the players supposed to or not supposed to vote for Rafa (or Fed)?
Yes, that’s what still puzzles me about the fairness award. Nobody forces the players to vote for a specific player. Why is the voting so lopsided towards Fed? Why has Novak never won the award? Why have the players elected Rafa for two years in a row now?
I’m not implying that a specific player x or Y does or doesn’t deserve the award. I’m puzzled by the voting pattern.
And you are right Lucky, the fairness award is different from the fan award and I think that every player can choose freely for whom he will vote. Why has the outcome be so lopsided for many years now? Why has Delpo never won it for example? There’s no reason to assume that only the most successful players deserve this award.
The players are given only a small selection of names from which to choose – four this year. Presumably some committee is in charge of nominations.
Thanks Ramara, if that’s so, it does explain the peculiar voting pattern, which seems to gravitate towards the top players. But IMO it also detracts some merit from this award, since the players cannot vote completely freely, if they can only choose from a very small and preselected sample.
Good choices all @, and I like the idea of renaming the Smanship award after Fed.
I don’t! When you name something for someone (Stefan Edberg in this case) it should STAY named.
They can name the Fan Fave award for Fed once he retires, idc about that. It’s not about Federer, I’m equally against renaming Philippe Chatrier or Roland Garros for Rafa. Not that the French Federation would ever consider such a thing, but fans often suggest it.
Ramara, I totally agree! I’m against changing traditional names. I’m sure that Rafa, Roger and Novak will be remembered in one or another way after they have retired. But renaming the fairness award would be a snub of Edberg IMO
Happy Xmas to Nny,PK,Elizabeth,Mira,Ramara, Natashao, Lucky, Eugene,Sanju,Alison,Al, Littlefoot, Ed,Hawks, Benny, Kevin, Vmk et al! And of course Ricky!
Looking forward to seeing you all for the AO!
Thanks for being such good company and thanks to Ricky for all the work he does and giving us this great place to discuss tennis!😀
Especially glad you joined the site this year PK!
Merry Christmas!
Hey hey hey amy!…Even tho i’m a muslim & not celebrate christmas..but thank u for thinking of me amy!hehe…
Hope u guys have a great holiday with your loved ones & friends!…Rafans,Fedfans nolefans,andyfans r awesome here!..let’s bring great tenniships to next year…hopefully it will bring more success to us(esp Rafans!😉)
Ohh yeah!…Thanks so much to Ricky too for providing us with great news bout tennis all year long!…Have a great holiday Ricky!
We’ve missed you, MA! Hope all is well with you and yours. Been a GREAT YEAR in Rafa-land!
Amy, Christmas is over now – but I wish you and all others here a very happy New Year!🍀🍀🍀🍀🐞🐞🐞🐞
Mira Andi if your reading this , we had a disagreement a while back, which i deeply regret because we were such good friends, but id really love it if we could bury the hatchet, ive felt pretty bad for quite a while, and missed our chats, when im wrong about something ill say it, hope you and your family are all well anyway , love and hugs xx 🙂
Hey Al!…So so so sorry for been a jerka$$ & hurting u!…I didn’t mean to…my head was a mess at that time & i’m so sorry for losing control like that…insyaallah it will not happen again al…
At 1st i thought it was just a sisterly spat…but when u unfriended me on fb…i thought “whooo!!…this is serious!”..heh heh…anyway MISSED U TOO!!😉😁
Have a good holiday with Clive & family,friends Al!💜👋
I Dont post on here much, but just wanted to wish all Tenngrand posters, a MERRY CHRISTMAS and A HAPPY NEW YEAR, however you celebrate it XX 🙂
Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!
Hahaha…I missed u guys too Ramara!…Alhamdulillah the tough moments already passed by!…Thanks so much for your nice words Ramara!…Reaaaalllyyy appreciate it!💙
Ohh…hope u will have a great time with family this holiday okay?…If there is a leftover turkey,don’t be shy to throw it to the other side of the pond!..I’ll catch it!..heh heh…
And yeaaahhhh!…what a great year for Rafa & us!!….Hope 2020 will bring us 20th!..insyaallah!…Woohooo!!….Love u guys!!
#20ispossible!!…Vamos!!
Why just 20..21 will be nicer 🙂
Mira Andi im so pleased you accepted my apology i could cry, could i send you another request on facebook hun xx ….
Mira Andi Clive and i are both well thanks, its been a busy year for us, but a pretty good one though, plenty more happening next year too, plannning to go rambling round the country next year, ive been wanting to talk to you for months but felt a bit of a fool to be honest, the unfriending was all a bit knee jerk, so again my apologies, anyway have a good christmas however you celebrate it, take care and look forward to chatting more in the new year, all the best xx 🙂
Mira Andi Clive and i are both well thanks, its been a busy year for us, but a pretty good one though, plenty more happening next year too, plannning to go rambling round the country next year, ive been wanting to talk to you for months but felt a bit of a fool to be honest, the unfriending was all a bit knee jerk, so again my apologies, anyway have a good christmas however you celebrate it, take care and look forward to chatting more in the new year, all the best xx 🙂
And yes 20 is possible, im convinced of it lol ….
Sanju too true blue, and its a distinct possibility too, Federers legacy hasnt realistically been put under threat till now, if Rafa wins next year FO heads will be spinning so fast, can just imagine the talk, he needs a favour from somebody, Novak winning AO wont do him any favours either , Federer really needs a newbie to win both the AO and the FO, Rafa and Novak are after him, and both have a chance to surpass him, and i wouldnt be surprised if either surpassed him, exciting times in tennis , MERRY CHRISTMAS XX ….
I just wanted to wish Ricky and Cheryl and all Tenngranders happy holidays and a wonderful New Years!
😍
Hahaha…Yeah sanju!…21 definitely is much nicer than 20!….but….as optimistic a person as i am,i don’t dare to dream that far sanju!
Even for 20th,i just wanna play cool & cautious,don’t want to be too xcited for it…coz many many times in my life,if i was too xcited bout something,i always end up frustrated!..haha…so….be cool,relax and if it meant for Rafa to get 20 or 21…Don’t worry!…he’ll get it!..insyaallah!….Vamos Rafa!!…woohooo!!
Yes 20 first but all in saying is why just 20. I bet Rafa wants more and so do we for him. He will get what is destined for him..be it 19,20,21 or maybe 24 too 🙂
Btw Roger is increasingly saying in his pressers that he is perfectly okay with Rafa n Novak passing him n that breaking the record means a lot, not keeping the record. How do you all read that coming from Roger ? He genuinely okay about it ( tough to believe) or he is resigned to the fact that it will happen for sure and he has no control over it. He also said his target next year is to win one of the big 6 – 4 slams,wtf,Olympics
Hey back al!..Sure!…i’d love to!
Id really love Rafa to get to 20 , and put some real pressure on Federer and his legacy, to be honest hes never realistically had that till now ,he needs a big favour from a newbie , bring it on , i can only repeat what i said yesterday lol, Rafa and Novak are both after him ….
Mira Andi cheers hun XX 🙂
I hope some of you had Merry Christmas.
Wishing you all a Happy New year.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/metro.co.uk/2019/12/31/2020-tennis-predictions-federer-decline-andreescu-rule-djokovic-back-top-11980392/amp/
Why is Djokovic given so much respect and Nadal so little to win titles year on year ? Nadal is world no 1 but Djokovic is mentioned unquestionably the best player in the world. Djoko is a lock to win 2 slams but Nadal may barely win one. I just hope Rafa gives a stunning n hard hitting slap to all these armchair analysts with his racquet doing the talking …
And the way they have shunted Federer down is ridiculous
Cheers back Al!👍😀
https://www.tennisworldusa.org/tennis/news/Rafael_Nadal/81985/rafael-nadal-shares-what-was-the-key-improvement-he-made-in-2019/
Vamos Rafa!!…Love u!!
#20ispossible!