Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic fail to get European Sportsperson of The Year award

As was expected, the Bayern Munich star Robert Lewandowski won the European Sportsperson of The Year award ahead of the seven-time Formula 1 champion Lewis Hamilton and the pole vault record-holder Armand Duplantis. The world's leading tennis players Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal missed the podium this time, finishing fourth and fifth. Novak and Rafa are the year-end top-2 duo for the third straight season, leaving all the rivals behind them and sharing two out of three Majors from the reduced season. Djokovic wrote the record books again, securing his sixth year-end no. 1 honor, joining his idol Pete Sampras at the top - the American ruled between 1993-98 - and leaving Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal on five year-end no. 1 honors. Novak made a stellar start of the season, winning six singles matches at the inaugural ATP Cup to lead Serbia towards the title, beating Nadal in the final clash.

Heading to Melbourne as the favorite, Novak defeated seven rivals to lift the eighth Australian Open crown and his 17th Major, moving closer to Federer and Nadal ahead of Roland Garros and Wimbledon. In the final, Novak overcame two sets to one deficit against Dominic Thiem, wrapping up a perfect Aussie swing and returning to competition at the end of February in Dubai. Djokovic won the first title in the desert in seven years, beating Stefanos Tsitsipas in the final and hoping for more in Indian Wells and Miami. Instead of that, Novak had to skip the next five months like the entire Tour, spending the coronavirus period at home in Belgrade and Marbella and working on his game.

Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal missed European Sportsperson of The Year awards.

The Serb was ready for the restart, extending his winning streak in Cincinnati and lifting the 35th Masters 1000 title to catch Rafael Nadal. Novak's only mistake of the season came at the US Open when he hit a lineswoman in the fourth round against Pablo Carreno Busta, experiencing the first default in a career and missing a chance of fighting for the 18th Major.

Novak bounced back in Rome, winning the 36th Masters 1000 crown and reaching the Roland Garros final, losing it to Nadal in straight sets. Djokovic secured the year-end no. 1 award in Vienna, playing one last event at the ATP Finals and losing to Dominic Thiem in the semi-final after wasting a 4-0 advantage in the deciding tie break. Rafael Nadal will finish inside the top-2 for the record-breaking 12th time, winning two ATP titles in 2020 and earning another massive record at Majors. Rafa lost the ATP throne to Novak after the Australian Open and won the season's first trophy in Acapulco. Returning to action in September, the Spaniard passed all the obstacles at Roland Garros to lift the 13th title in Paris, losing no sets in seven matches! By the end of the season, Rafa lost in the Paris Masters and ATP Finals' semi-final, feeling happy about his performance and preparing for another strong run in 2021. 

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/3mNpDCt