Rafael Nadal picks Lionel Messi as Laureus Sportsman of the Year award despite his own nomination for a record 9th time
Rafael Nadal takes to Instagram to pick Lionel Messi as Laureus Sportsman of the Year award despite his own nomination.
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Rafael Nadal and Lionel Messi
Rafael Nadal once again shows why he is admired by tennis fans everywhere for his humility as he claimed the World Cup champion Lionel Messi deserves the “Laureus World Sportsman of the Year” award despite being nominated for it as well. If the 22-time Grand Slam Champion wins the Laureus award this year, it will be for the fifth time overall- Sportsman of the year (2011,2021), Breakthrough of the Year (2006), and Comeback of the Year(2014).
Along With Nadal and Messi, Football star Kylian Mbappe, Formula 1 Champion Max Verstappen, Athlete Armand Duplantis, and Basketball star Stephen Curry are the nominees for the World Sportsman of the Year award this year.
Although the humble Spaniard expressed his opinion in this way, in a year when Rafael Nadal broke the record for most Grand Slams won by a male tennis player with his almost impossible comeback in the Australian Open final against Daniil Medvedev and then won a record 14th French Open title, Lionel Messi’s world cup victory may not be sufficient to seal the deal factually.
Rafael Nadal’s incredible 2022
The Spanish superstar Rafael Nadal had his greatest start to a season in 2022. The Spaniard was on a magical run last season with his first loss of the season coming only in his 21st match.
The injury concerns were always the most worrying aspects of the Spaniard’s career. Last year he won the Australian Open after taking an injury break for almost six months. Later, he won his 14th French Open title after battling past 4 top-10 players including his greatest rival Novak Djokovic in the Quarter-finals by fighting the left foot injury with painkillers and anesthesia.
But the French Open is probably the last time Nadal fans would have celebrated. The abdomen injury in Wimbledon and then again in the US Open have made the second part of the 2022 season a nightmare for them. With the hip injury sustained during the Australian Open 2023, the Spaniard is currently on a break from tennis. He is expected to be back at least in the clay court swing by the tennis fans if not the Sunshine double scheduled next month.
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Vipul Payattuparambil
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