The imminent Laureus World Sports Awards are set to shine a spotlight on tennis, as the Laureus Organization announced today that five tennis players have received nominations.
The Laureus World Sports Awards were first held in 2000 and are known for recognizing exceptional sporting achievements in seven main award categories.
This year, Novak Djokovic, Coco Gauff, Iga Swiatek, Marketa Vondrousova, and Diede de Groot, made the shortlist for five of the seven honors. The announcement of the winners is scheduled to take place in April at a banquet in Madrid.
Here’s a look at 2024 tennis nominees.
Novak Djokovic
Serbian Novak Djokovic, a 20-time Grand Slam champion, is nominated for the 2024 Laureus World Sportsman of the Year.
According to Laureus, Djokovic won this award in 2012, 2015, 2016, and 2019. Winning the 2024 award would tie Djokovic with Roger Federer for the most times a tennis player has earned this honor, the ATP reported.
In 2023, Djokovic secured seven titles and held a 56-7 record. The 31-year-old clinched victories in three Grand Slam tournaments—the Australian Open, Roland Garros, and the US Open—and reached the final at Wimbledon. Additionally, he finished the year as the ATP Year-End No. 1 presented by Pepperstone for the eighth time.
Upon nomination, Djokovic wrote on X: “It’s an honor to be nominated for @LaureusSport 2024 World Sportsman of the Year. A special group to be a part of, congratulations to my fellow nominees @ErlingHaaland, @mondohoss600, @LylesNoah, @Max33Verstappen, #LeoMessi #Laureus24.”
Coco Gauff
American tennis star Coco Gauff is nominated for the 2024 Laureus World Breakthrough of the Year.
The teen secured her first Grand Slam title by defeating Aryna Sabalenka with a score of 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 at the 2023 US Open. Notably, she became the first American teenager to conquer Flushing Meadows since Serena Williams in 1999.
Upon nomination, Laureus reported that the 19-year-old also won her first WTA 1000 title at the 2023 Cincinnati Masters, accumulated a total of six WTA Tour singles titles and eight doubles titles in 2023, and finished the year ranked No. 3 in the world.
Iga Swiatek
Polish tennis standout Iga Swiatek is nominated for the 2024 Sportswoman of the Year.
Swiatek, 22, has earned a total of 17 singles titles and is the first Polish tennis player to win nine Grand Slam titles, Laureus reported.
Securing her fourth career Grand Slam, Swiatek triumphed at the French Open for the third time, adding to her victories at Roland Garros in 2020 and 2022, along with the 2022 US Open.
Despite facing a setback at the US Open when she exited in the Round of 16 and lost her world No.1 ranking, Swiatek reclaimed her No.1 position in November at the WTA Finals in Cancun when she defeated Jessica Pegula 6-1, 6-0.
Marketa Vondrousova
The 24-year-old Czech tennis player Marketa Vondrousova is nominated for the 2024 Laureus World Comeback of the Year.
Vondrousova’s Laureus nomination credits her becoming the first unseeded woman in the Open Era to claim a Wimbledon title when she defeated Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur with a score of 6-4, 6-4 in 2023.
After making her debut on the WTA circuit in 2016, an elbow injury sidelined Vondrousova for months. The Czech player made a comeback three years later when she finished runner-up to Ash Barty at the French Open, only to find out she would need wrist surgery. Vondrousova nevertheless fought back to win Wimbledon 2023.
Diede de Groot
Wheelchair tennis star Diede de Groot is nominated for the 2024 Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability.
Groot is now a five-time Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability nominee and deemed “the greatest of all time in her sport” by the Laureus organization.
In 2023, Groot became the first tennis player, irrespective of wheelchair classification, to secure three consecutive calendar Grand Slams since wheelchair tennis singles became a part of all four major championships.
Groot had a 53-match winning streak in 2023, extending her run to 127 consecutive victories since the start of the 2021 Australian Open.
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