Carlos Alcaraz and Rafael Nadal are among those nominated for the 2022 Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship Award.
The ATP awards season already started, and slowly but surely, the shortlist of those who are in the running to win one of those is becoming known. When it comes to the Sportsmanship Award, which has carried the name of Stefan Edberg since 1996, there are a couple of good candidates.
Roger Federer holds the record for winning the award 13 times, but after his retirement, the door opened for a new winner, even though one five-time winner was nominated again.
Rafael Nadal has many times been called the poster boy for sportsmanship as the Spaniard takes that part of the sport very seriously. Raised to be gracious on the court, Nadal has never smashed a racquet on the tennis court and generally tries to be as respectable as possible on the court.
That’s not just when it comes to tennis skills on the tennis court but also respect for his opponents and the rules of the game. He’s won this award in the past, and it's not a surprise that he was nominated for it once more.
Carlos Alcaraz is another player that is nominated for this award this year and it again stems from the Spaniard being raised to respect the game. He’s shown relatively great sportsmanship so far in his career, displaying great respect for his opponents and the competitive spirit of the game.
He’s gone against his own benefit a couple of times on the court, conceding points and pointing to proper marks on clay. That is the sort of behavior that will get a lot of respect from rivals, hence the nomination.
There are lots of other great candidates nominated as well, including Cameron Norrie, Casper Ruud, Felix Auger-Aliassime, Frances Tiafoe, Grigor Dimitrov, Hubert Hurkacz, Lorenzo Musetti, Matteo Berrettini, Hubert Hurkacz.
Novak Djokovic wasn’t nominated this year, and his fans weren’t happy about that, voicing their displeasure.