Roger Federer wins 18th consecutive Fans' Favourite Singles Player award

For the 18th straight year, tennis fans have voted Roger Federer as ATPTour.com Fans' Favorite player for 2020! Roger experienced the shortest season in a career, playing only one tournament and remaining the fans' favorite player. The ATPTour.com Fans' Favorite started in 2000, with Gustavo Kuerten as the first winner. The charismatic Russian Marat Safin took the honor in 2001 and 2002, and it was all about Roger Federer since 2003. The Swiss claimed the first Major title at Wimbledon that year, missing a chance of becoming world no. 1 during summer and finishing the season with the Masters Cup crown. Dominating the next couple of years, Federer had gained an enormous number of fans worldwide, becoming our sport's most famous face and never losing the ATPTour.com Fans' Favorite player award! In 2019, Federer won four ATP titles, lifting the Masters 1000 crown in Miami and wasting two match points versus Novak Djokovic in the Wimbledon final.

At 38, Federer finished the season ranked 3rd behind Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, hoping for another strong run in 2020. Instead of that, Roger played only one tournament in the season behind us, reaching the Australian Open semi-final and skipping the rest of the year.

Roger Federer earns ATPTour.com Fans' Favorite player award for 18th time.

Roger lost to Novak in straight sets following a thriller against Tennys Sandgren and seven match points he had to save. A few weeks later, Federer underwent knee surgery, hoping to get ready for Halle and Wimbledon. Instead of that, the pain wouldn't go away, requiring another surgery in May and deciding to skip the rest of the year and switch focus on 2021. In October, Roger hit the practice court, increasing the pace of his training sessions and arriving in Dubai with his coach Ivan Ljubicic a couple of days ago. Roger is yet to decide about the Australian Open that starts on February 8, giving his best to fully recover in time and compete at the first Major of the season. 

"Hey, it's Roger here. I hope you are all doing well in a difficult year; I want to thank you all for winning the Fans' Favorite award this year again. Thank the ATP, all the tennis fans out there for voting for me, believing in me and wanting to see me back on the Tour. I'm training hard to make that possible. I hope I can play in front of all of you guys again very soon. Happy holiday and new year, and let's hope it all gets better next year. I have to be a little bit patient for now, and I can't wait to see you all again soon," Roger Federer said.

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/2WDooLH