Rafael Nadal’s historic 2022 ATP Tour season has ended with the Spaniard treading yet more new ground — the 36-year-old has been voted as Fans’ Favourite for the first time in the ATP Awards.
Despite entering the year off the back of a five-month injury layoff, Nadal made his best start to an ATP Tour season by winning his first 20 matches in 2022. That run included lifting a record 21st Grand Slam crown at the Australian Open, and the Spaniard made it 22 major crowns with victory on the clay at Roland Garros in June.
“I am super happy to receive the Fans’ Favourite Award [in] 2022. It makes me feel great. I can’t thank you enough everyone for the support not only for this award, but at the same time for all the support that I receive in every single city and event around the world,” Nadal said. “That means everything to me, so I am very [much] looking forward to 2023 to share a lot of positive things again. See you soon!”
The fans love Rafa, and Rafa loves the fans ❤️@RafaelNadal | #ATPAwards pic.twitter.com/9ifu4Hwm4q
— ATP Tour (@atptour) December 13, 2022
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As well as those Grand Slam victories in Australia and France, Nadal also won ATP Tour events in Melbourne and Acapulco this season to increase his tally of tour-level titles to 92. He finished the year with a 39-8 tour-level record.
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The Spaniard now has a fan-voted ATP Award to go with his full set of Awards in the player-voted categories: Newcomer (2003), Most Improved (2005), Comeback (2013) and Sportsmanship (2010, 2018-2021). Nadal was also named Arthur Ashe Humanitarian of the Year in 2011 and crowned ATP No. 1 presented by FedEx five times (2008, 2010, 2013, 2017, 2019).
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The Spaniard now has a fan-voted ATP Award to go with his full set of Awards in the player-voted categories: Newcomer, Most Improved, Comeback and Sportsmanship. Nadal was also named Arthur Ashe Humanitarian of the Year in 2011 and crowned ATP No. 1 presented by Pepperstone five times (2008, 2010, 2013, 2017, 2019).
The announcement of Nadal’s win comes a day after Thanasi Kokkinakis and Nick Kyrgios were named the Fans’ Favourite doubles team for the first time.
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