(FOTO: EPA/CHRISTOPHE PETIT TESSON)
Novak Djokovic, the tennis maestro from Serbia, once again takes the throne as Europe’s athlete of the year. The 36-year-old Serbian, who goes by the nickname “Djoker”, was honored with this prestigious award by the Polish news agency PAP for the fifth time. This means he is catching up with the legendary Swiss tennis star Roger Federer. He also won this title five times.
The year 2021 was an impressive success story for Djokovic. With three Grand Slam titles – including the Australian Open, the French Open and the US Open – and winning the ATP Finals, he has proven his dominance in tennis. His only setback was defeat in the Wimbledon final to Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz, who was ranked 13th in the PAP poll.
The European sporting landscape is full of outstanding athletes, and Djokovic saw off some of the best. The newly crowned Formula 1 world champion Max Verstappen from the Netherlands and the Swedish pole vault world champion Armand Duplantis could not collect enough votes to trump Djoker. They ended up in second and third place, 28 and 92 points behind respectively. Norwegian football sensation Erling Haaland secured fourth place, just six points behind Duplantis.
Novak Djokovic finances the young talent Hamad Medjedovic
Tennis players dominate
The election, in which 21 European news agencies took part, including the Austrian APA, once again showed the dominance of tennis. Since 2004, tennis players have been named European Sportsman of the Year 13 times. Last year it was Poland’s Iga Swiatek who was able to claim this title.
Follow us on social media!
2023-12-27 06:10:15
#Djokovic #Europes #Sportsman #Year
