The current world No. 2 and 20 time Grand Slam winner Rafael Nadal has won the Sportsman of the Year award at the 2021 Laureus World Sports Awards. Naomi Osaka was named The Sportswoman of the Year at the digital awards ceremony held in Seville, Spain.Â
Nadal has been nominated for the Laureus Awards eight times in different categories and has won it 4 times. 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.Â
For Sportswoman of the Year, Naomi was nominated for the third time and she has now bagged two in three. She also won the Breakthrough of the Year award in 2019, she was a nominee for the Sportswoman of the Year award in 2020.
Rafael Nadal will be looking forward to winning a few more grand slams in the second half of 2021. The Spaniard needs one more slam title to go past Roger Federer and become the first tennis player to win 21 Grand Slam titles. Meanwhile, Osaka will be looking to win maiden French and Wimbledon titles.
The World Team of the Year was awarded to Bayern Munich. The German Club dominated Europe as they won all six available titles to them last year in the Bundesliga, German Cup, Champions League, German Super Cup, European Super Cup, Club World Cup becoming only the second team after FC Barcelona to do so.Â
The Athlete Advocate of the Year was won by seven-time Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton for his continuous efforts to raise social awareness against racism. Liverpool forward Mohammad Salah received the Sporting Inspiration Award. The Lifetime Achievement Award went to Billie Jean King former World No. 1 professional tennis player. King won 39 Grand Slam titles: 12 in singles, 16 in women’s doubles, and 11 in mixed doubles.