World No.1 Novak Djokovic has been named the fourth best European athlete of the year by a panel of 25 European news agencies.
The 63rd annual award is overseen by the Polish Press Agency (PAP) and recognizes those who have made an outstanding contribution to sport over a 12-month period. Leading media organisations AFP, DPA and EFE are all involved in the process with each of them voting for the best athlete with a points system. 17-time Grand Slam champion Djokovic scored a total of 85 points which was almost 100 less than footballer Robert Lewandowski who won this year’s honour.
This season Djokovic has won four ATP titles, including a record eighth Australian Open trophy, and earned more than $6.4 million in prize money. Making him the highest earning player on the Tour this year. He has ended the season as world No.1 for the sixth time in his career which equals Pete Sampras’ all-time record.
Following closely behind Djokovic is Rafael Nadal, who finished in fifth place with 13 points less than the Serbian. He has been named European Athlete of the Year twice before with the most recent being in 2010. Nadal’s standout achievement of 2020 occurred at the French Open where he dismantled Djokovic in the final to win the trophy for an historic 13th time. He also won a tital in Mexico at the Acapulco Open.
Unlike last year, a female player has also made the top 20. Poland’s Iga Swiatek has been recognized for her shock run to the French Open title at the age of 19. Prior to that triumph, she had never won a professional title of any sort. She is the first player from her country to have won a singles Grand Slam trophy.
Finally, US Open champion Dominic Thiem completes the quartet of tennis players who have reached the top 20 in 14th place. The world No.3 also reached the final of the Australian Open in January and the ATP Finals in November.
Since the birth of the award in 1958, there have been 14 occasions where somebody from the world of tennis has topped the poll. The most recent was Djokovic back in 2018.
THE TOP 20 ATHLETES ACCORDING TO THE PAP:
- Robert Lewandowski (football)180 pts
- Lewis Hamilton (formula 1) 176 pts
- Armand Duplantis (athletics) 169 pts
- Novak Djokovic (tennis) 85 pts
- Rafael Nadal ( tennis) 72 pts
- Primoz Roglic (cycling) 64 pts
- Tadej Pogacar (cycling) 52 pts pts
- Giannis Antetokounmpo (basketball) 42 points
- Iga Swiatek ( tennis) 32 pts
- Therese Johaug (nordic skiing) 28 pts
- Sifan Hassan (athletics) 27 pts
- Joan Mir (Moto GP) 22 pts
- Dorothea Wierer (biathlon) 21 pts
- Dominic Thiem ( tennis) 19 pts
- Anna van der Breggen (cycling) 19 pts
- Cristiano Ronaldo (football) 17 pts
- Marte Olsson Roisland (biathlon 16 pts
- Luca Doncic (basketball) 15 pts
- Federica Brignone (alpine skiing) 15 pts
- Johannes Tignes Boe (biathlon) 15 pts
PREVIOUS TENNIS WINNERS
1988 Steffi Graf
1989 Steffi Graf
1990 Stefan Edberg
1997 Martina Hingis
2004 Roger Federer
2005 Roger Federer (and Yelena Isinbayeva)
2006 Roger Federer
2007 Roger Federer
2008 Rafael Nadal
2009 Roger Federer
2010 Rafael Nadal
2011 Novak Djokovic
2015 Novak Djokovic
2018 Novak Djokovic
