Serbian tennis legend Novak Djokovic finally equaled Roger Federer’s record by achieving a special award in sports this year. This year, Djokovic became Europe’s Sportsperson of the Year for the fifth time. The light-footed legend, Roger Federer, bagged this award five times in his career—a record in men’s tennis. Now it is the time for the Serb to share yet another groundbreaking record with Federer.
Last year, Polish prodigy and current WTA World No. 1 Iga Swiatek won the award. The PAP European Sportsperson of the Year award represents one of the greatest honors a European sportsperson can receive in their professional career. And winning it five times is perhaps as big as it gets.
Novak Djokovic enters the record books by winning his fifth PAP European Sportsperson of the Year award
This year, Novak Djokovic beat reigning Formula One champion Max Verstappen by twenty-eight points to become Europe’s Sportsman of the Year. Twenty-one agencies from Europe including the Austria Press Agency participated in this selection process. They chose Djokovic based on his landmark victories at three of the four Grand Slam events of the year. Novak Djokovic won the Australian Open, French Open, and the US Open, as well as the ATP Tour Finals.
There were quite a few potential candidates, as the award includes all major international sports. However, Djokovic’s extraordinary performance this year made sure he won it yet again. Though he had surpassed Federer’s tally of 20 Grand Slams last year at Wimbledon, with this award, he has caught up with the Swiss legend yet again.
As reported by nachrichten.at, apart from Djokovic, Manchester City’s most promising player, Erling Haaland was positioned fourth in the category. Not to forget, Spanish tennis prodigy, Carlos Alcaraz Garcia also entered into the list by snatching the thirteenth place.
What are the most significant achievements of Novak Djokovic in 2023?
The 2023 season was all about Novak Djokovic as the legend surprised fans by winning three of the four Grand Slam events of the year. Now that fans know he is thirty-six already, they understand what a remarkable achievement it is for Djokovic this season. The World No.1 not only won the Australian Open, French Open, and the US Open, but he also bagged his trophy at the Nitto 2023 ATP tournament. While Djokovic ended the Wimbledon 2023 as a finalist, his performance moved the whole tennis fraternity. His Davis Cup 2023 performance was equally great.
Novak Djokovic truly deserves the Europe’s Sportsman of the Year award. Even his opponent Holger Rune praised his mind-blowing skills after accepting his defeat at the ATP 2023 tournament. Now equalling Federer’s record, Djokovic just proved that he is not stopping unless he breaks more records and becomes the undisputed GOAT of men’s tennis.
