Luka Modric tops Novak Djokovic and Simona Halep as the..
The captain of the Croatia national football squad and Real Madrid midfielder Luka Modric has been named Balkan Athlete of the Year, leaving Novak Djokovic and Simona Halep behind him and becoming the first footballer with this honor since Hristo Stoickov in 1994. The 46th poll was organized by the Bulgarian News Agency (BTA) and Luka toppled the tennis pair after collecting votes from nine different agencies from the Balkan region, including Romania, Bulgaria, Greece, Macedonia, Turkey, Serbia, Montenegro, Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The 33-year-old Modric had a stellar season, both with the national squad and the club, earning Ballon d'Or award and leading Croatia towards the World Cup final in Russia in July, being named the player of the tournament. Luka and his teammates from Real won the Champions League and FIFA Club World Cup, securing 75 points in the poll to just outspring the 2011-15 winner Novak Djokovic who finished on 73. After a slow start of the season, Novak regained his form and became the dominant figure on the Tour for the first time in two years, winning Wimbledon, Cincinnati, US Open and Shanghai to pass Rafael Nadal and finish the season as the year-end number 1 for the fifth time in his career.
WTA world no. 1 Simona Halep has finished third in the standings, accumulating 65 points after winning her maiden Grand Slam crown at Roland Garros and wrap up the year at the throne for the second time in a row. The Croat Marin Cilic secured the fifth place in the standings after spending the entire year in the top-10 and playing in the Australian Open final. Marin won the title at Queen's after saving a match point against Novak Djokovic in the final and he won two singles matches in Davis Cup final against France to deliver the title for his country.
from Tennis World USA http://bit.ly/2BL8DHK
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