Seville: The Ace Tennis player Rafael Nadal has won the Laureus Sportsman of the Year – 2021 at Laureus World Sports Awards. The Laureus World Sports Awards – 2021 was unveiled at a digital awards ceremony from Seville, Spain. Naomi Osaka has won Laureus Sportswoman of the Year – 2021 award.

The Laureus World Team of the Year – 2021 award was picked by the Bayern Munich football team. The Athlete Advocate of the Year was won by Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton for his continuous efforts to raise social awareness and Liverpool footballer Mo Salah received the Sporting Inspiration Award. The Lifetime Achievement Award received by Billie Jean King.

Nadal had a total of 8 nominations and won 4. His first win in the Sportsman of the Year category came in 2011 while he won the Breakthrough of the Year award in 2006 and the Comeback of the Year award in 2014. Interestingly, he was also nominated for the Sportsman of the Year award in 2014.

Naomi Osaka was Sportswoman of the Year, this was her third nomination in the awards and she has now bagged two in three. While she won the Breakthrough of the Year award in 2019, she was a nominee for the Sportswoman of the Year award in 2020. It is an honour to once again be nominated for a Laureus Award by the world’s media. For me this is special because Laureus sees the big picture not just sport on the court or the pitch, but how it can help young people around the world.