ATP Awards: Sportsmanship Award for Rafael Nadal, special honor for Erste Bank Open
Rafael Nadal won the ATP Stefan Edberg Spormanship Award for the fourth time in a row. The organizers of the Erste Bank Open in Vienna received a special award.
by Michael Rothschädl
last edit:
Dec 17, 2021, 06:52 pm
Like Roger Federer, who was named "Fan´s Favorite" at the ATP Awards yesterday, Rafael Nadal was another veteran at the title show of the Association of Tennis Professionals who was not really successful in the 2021 calendar year. After a bitter semi-final defeat against Novak Djokovic at his "home tournament", the French Open, Nadal was only able to play one tournament due to an injury - and had to skip the Olympics, Wimbledon and the US Open.
Nadal was delighted with the honor, as he told the ATP: "I couldn't be happier to receive the Sportsmanship Award from my colleagues on the tour again." It means a lot to him and he would like to thank all those players who believe that he is the right player for this award. "To be honest, it means a lot to me because I try to always be correct on the pitch."
Vienna as one of the tournaments of the year
In addition to Nadal, the most popular tournaments of the season were also selected on Friday as part of the ATP Awards. Including the Erste Bank Open, which received the award at ATP 500 level. "We are very pleased that the Erste Bank Open was voted the ATP 500 tournament of the year for the first time in our long history," said Herwig Straka.
This is the reward for the risk and the spirit of innovation that the ATP 500 event recently displayed - for example with the "Tennis 2 Go" project in downtown Vienna: "We are constantly trying to improve the Erste Bank Open and to renew it, for example this year with the project "Tennis 2 Go", in order to offer both the players and the fans world-class tennis and entertainment at the highest level, "explained Straka. At the ATP Masters 1000 event, the title went to the tournament in Indian Wells, and the organizers in Doha were awarded at the ATP 250 level.