Tennis fans bewildered by Best Athlete nominations that include Serena Williams, Federer & Osaka

| by Balasz Virag

The International Sports Press Association released a list of nominees for the Best Male Athlete and the Best Female Athlete of 2022.

Traditionally, tennis players were part of the nominations, but not those that the tennis community would expect. Players from both ATP & WTA Tours made it to the list but paradoxically, those that played the fewest matches. Carlos Alcaraz and Iga Swiatek finished the 2022 season as the highest-ranked players on their tour, but none of them made it on the list.

"Roger could be an ambassador, or maybe president" - Navratilova on Federer
"Roger could be an ambassador, or maybe president" - Navratilova on Federer

On the other hand, Roger Federer, who hasn't played a singles match on the ATP Tour and played only one doubles match at an exhibition event - Laver Cup - is one of the nominees. While the Swiss Maestro's legacy is undeniable, his nomination is shocking.

But he isn't the only surprising name of the nominees from the tennis world. In the Best Female Athlete category, Naomi Osaka and Serena Williams were nominated. While the same as for Federer applies to them, the 23-time Grand Slam champion played only seven matches in 2022, out of which she lost four and Osaka played only 23 matches.

There are also two players that certainly deserved their spot for their performances in 2022. Those are Rafael Nadal in the Best Male Athlete category and Ons Jabeur in the Best Female Athlete category.

However, the list of names that are missing is very long as Carlos Alcaraz, Iga Swiatek, Elena Rybakina, Novak Djokovic and many more could maybe make the list. Some of the fans shared their opinions about the nominations.

"Is this award for the best or the richest athletes? It has to be for business achievements this year, it's hard to believe it could be for sports," one of the users tweeted.

"Best Athlete of the year in category : retiree?WTF." another joined.

"Took me a while but just realized these awards are actually from the *sports* press ‍At first thought was some kinda of generic organization but no...," stated antoher shocked fan.

You can find all nominated athletes on the AIPS Media website.

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