Djokovic is Named Sportsman of the Year

Written by: Staff on 7th February 2012

Djokovic is Named Sportsman of the Year |

A number of awards have been given to world no.1 Novak Djokovic in the last couple of months but probably the most prestigious came in London as the 24 year-old Serb succeeded his great rivals Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer as the 2012 Laureus World Sportsman of the Year.

Eight days after gathering his fifth Grand Slam title 12,000 miles distant in the longest Grand Slam final in history at the Australian Open, Djokovic beat off the challenge of Jamaican track star Usain Bolt and topped a short list that also included Cadel Evans (cycling), Lionel Messi (soccer), Dirk Nowitzki (basketball) and Sebastian Vettel (Formula One).

Now viewed as the Oscars of the sporting world, the world’s sports media decide the nominees before the 47-strong Laureus academy, made up of sporting greats, vote for the winners.

A clearly moved Djokovic took center stage at Westminster’s Central Hall, adjacent to the Houses of Parliament, and declared: “Just looking at the list of people who have been winning this is quite remarkable. It’s a privilege and honor to be a part of this event, makes me proud and gives me time to reflect on the achievements of 2011, which was my very best year.”

Sir Alex Ferguson, the Manchester United soccer manager, described Djokovic as “a phenomenal athlete” and the Serb is now looking forward to returning to London later this year to first defend his Wimbledon title and then aim for the Olympic gold medal on the same grass courts of the All England Club.

While he would not give too much away about the secrets of his success Djokovic said: “Everybody has a different strategy of working and of preparing for a tournament, especially the majors, and since our season is very long we don’t have that much off-season to work on our physical stamina, but when we do, we need to take the best out of it.

“I have developed a system of working with my team. My fitness coach [Gebhard Phil-Gristch] knows how to prepare me for what is coming, the biggest physical effort I feel on the court.

“We are working on the endurance, the flexibility, but that’s all I can really say. I don’t want to reveal the secrets but in my eyes I don’t believe a tennis player should be muscular. It is more important to be dynamic, explosive, flexible and to have the right endurance because all the movements we have on the court are from the first and second step — very important to have the anticipation and agility because that helps you in the short and the long run, relying on your endurance.

“I need to be fast and that is the way I am and it’s working for now. We are focusing much more on quality rather than quantity. We are not spending hours and hours when we don’t need to.”

Proceeds from the Laureus World Sports Awards directly benefit and underpin the work of the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation, which supports 91 community sports projects in 34 countries around the world, including five in London. Since its inception, Laureus has raised EURO40 million for projects which have improved the lives of more than one-and-a-half million young people.

Topics: Laureus World Sportsman Of The Year, Novak Djokovic