Novak Djokovic nominated for BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2021


Novak Djokovic nominated for BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2021

Novak Djokovic

Novak Djokovic was recently announced as a nominee for the World Sport Star award at BBC Sport Personality of the year. The other nominees for the award are Mexican professional boxer Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez, Irish jockey Rachael Blackmore, American NFL legend Tom Brady, Dutch F1 superstar Max Verstappen and Jamaican sprinter and Olympian Elaine Thompson-Herah.

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Djokovic’s 2021 at a glance

Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic

The world number 1 has had another spectacular season, reaching the finals of all four grand slams, winning the Wimbledon, French Open and Australian Open, while finishing runners-up to Daniil Medvedev in the US Open. His spectacular form saw him become only the second man in history after Rafael Nadal in 2010 to achieve the Surface Slam, that is, winning majors on all three different surfaces of clay, grass and hard. He also won the Paris Masters and Belgrade Open titles.

The 34-year-old also helped Serbia qualify for the knockouts of the recently concluded Davis Cup.

Records broken in 2021

Apart from the titles, he also broke numerous records too this season. Firstly, he broke the record for consecutive weeks spent at top of the rankings, surpassing 310 weeks on top of the rankings breaking Federer’s record in the process.

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He also surpassed Federer’s record of 224 wins over top 10 players. The legendary Serb also Tied Federer’s all-time record of 31 Major finals reached.

He brought his Grand Slam total to 20 this year, equalling the record of rivals Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer.

Who are some of the past winners?

Voting for the award is currently open. The winners will be announced during the BBC Sports Personality of the Year show, which will be telecast live on BBC One on December 19. Some of the other tennis players to have been awarded this award are-

  • Rafael Nadal
  • Martina Navratilova
  • Rod Laver
  • Bjorn Borg
  • Chris Evert
  • Arthur Ashe
  • Steffi Graf
  • Boris Becker
  • Martins Hingis

The only player to have been honored the award multiple times is Roger Federer, who won it in 2004, 2006, 2007 and 2017.

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Considering the amazing records he’s broken and numerous titles he’s won this year, it won’t be a surprise if he wins this one too. And it would be a perfect end to an exceptional year.

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