‘Can’t Wait To See You All’: Roger Federer Thanks Supporters For 18th Straight Fans’ Favorite Award

Roger Federer did not have the best year in 2020, but the Swiss Maestro received the perfect motivation to continue preparing for his comeback next year. ATP Fans all around the world have voted Federer as the Fans’ Favorite Player of the Year for 2020, giving the 20x Slam champion his 18th consecutive award! 

The number is completely unbelievable! Roger Federer hardly competed in 2020, but yet managed to win the Fans’ Favorite Player award. The Swiss superstar bowed out of competing this year due to complications in his knee, but that didn’t stop fans from registering their votes for Federer. 

Roger Federer renders a heart-warming message for his faithful fans

Roger Federer has always done well at the ATP Awards and he completely took over the Fans’ Favorite Award from 2003. It has been 18 straight years of Federer’s dominance in this category and nobody has even come close to claiming his throne. 

Roger Federer has thoroughly enjoyed every award, right from his first one in 2003 to the latest one in 2020. But the most recent honor would give him immense pleasure as it reflects the amount of faith fans have in him even during an injury-plagued season. 

“Hey, it’s Roger here. I hope everybody is doing well in a difficult year. I just wanted to thank you all for winning the Fans’ Favorite Award this year again. Thanks to ATP, to all the tennis fans out there voting for me, believing in me, and wanting to see me back on the tour,” said Federer while addressing fans after winning the award.

“I’m training hard, making that possible and I hope I can play in front of all you guys very very soon and Happy Holidays to everybody. Happy New Year and let’s hope it all gets better next year. I can’t wait to see you all again very soon. So take care, and again, thank you, thank you, so so much, I’ll see you soon,” the 39-year-old added.

This latest accolade takes Federer’s ATP awards tally to 39. He’s won the Fans’ Favorite Award a record 18 consecutive times, the Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship Award too, a record 13 times, the Arthur Ashe Humanitarian of the Year Award twice, ATP Comeback Player of the Year in 2013, and the ATP Player of the Year honors five times in his career.

Rafael Nadal wins 2020 Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship Award

If there was a deserving athlete to win the Sportsmanship Award in 2020, it was Rafa Nadal. The Spaniard takes home the Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship Award for the fourth time in his career. 

Moreover, Nadal won the award in 2018, and 2019 as well, making his latest achievement a hattrick of victories. This award is given out based on the professionalism and integrity maintained by a player on and off the court. 

Rafa Nadal impressed fans with a touching act right at the beginning of 2020. The Spaniard firmly hit a ball girl on the head at Australian Open 2020 and made up for it, by giving her a kiss on the chin.

The complete list of ATP Awards has been released and it was indeed surprising to see Roger Federer win Fans’ Favorite Award yet again. Shows how deep he sits within fans’ hearts even without playing for the majority of the season.