Roger Federer Wins Two Laureus Awards
Swiss tennis player Roger Federer, current number one in the ATP ranking, was the main protagonist at the Laureus World Sports Awards, adding two more distinctions to his career, the Athlete of the Year and Comeback of the Year awards.
In the first category, Federer beat his biggest rival on the court, Spanish player Rafael Nadal, with whom he shared the Grand Slam titles in 2017, and Portuguese football player Cristiano Ronaldo, who once again missed out on the award after five nominations.
Also nominated for this award were three British athletes: Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton, cyclist Chris Froome, and athlete Mo Farah.
La alegría de Roger Federer
The academy of former athletes also awarded Federer with the Laureus Comeback of the Year, recognizing his ability to overcome injuries and return to the top with victories in the Australian Open and Wimbledon.
In this category, he beat the Barcelona football team, nominated for their spectacular comeback against PSG in the UEFA Champions League round of 16, the Chapecoense football team, victims of a tragic plane crash, athletes Justin Gatlin and Sally Pearson, and MotoGP rider Valentino Rossi.
However, Chapecoense won the Best Sporting Moment of the Year award for their comeback to competition after the tragedy.
Federer left the ceremony, held at the Sporting de Monte-Carlo, with six Laureus awards in his career. Alongside the two he won this year, presented by Boris Becker and Martina Navratilova, he also won four consecutive awards between 2005 and 2008 as the Athlete of the Year. No one has more Laureus awards than him.
It was a night for tennis, as the Female Athlete of the Year award went to American player Serena Williams. She started last season by winning her 23rd Grand Slam title in Australia before taking time off to become a mother.
The younger Williams sister beat Spanish-Venezuelan tennis player Garbiñe Muguruza, who reached the top ranking in 2017 and won her second Grand Slam title at Wimbledon. Also nominated for the award were athletes Allyson Felix and Caster Semenya, swimmer Katie Ledecky, and skier Mikaela Shiffrin.