The ATP introduced on Friday that Grigor Dimitrov is the winner of the 2024 Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship Award. It’s Dimitrov’s first such honor and he’s the third straight first-time recipient following Casper Ruud in 2022 and Carlos Alcaraz in 2023.
This stretch of various winners is a marked change for the Sportsmanship Award, on which Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal had a monopoly for 18 consecutive years from 2004 to 2021. Throughout that point, Federer gained it 13 occasions and Nadal was the honoree on 5 events.
“I’m simply very grateful, very grateful to all my followers, to all my colleagues, to everybody that has been such a assist all through all this time,” Dimitrov mentioned. “I really feel very lucky. Thanks all for this superb appreciation, and I’ll ensure to maintain on going and to maintain on striving to be the perfect.”
The 33-year-old Bulgarian additionally excelled on the courtroom this previous season. He completed inside the highest 10 with a 46-18 match file that included a title in Brisbane and runner-up showings in Marseille, Miami (Masters 1000), and Stockholm.
Different ATP award winners have been Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard (Most Improved), Matteo Berrettini (Comeback), Jakub Mensik (Newcomer), and Michael Russell (Coach, Taylor Fritz).
Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and likewise maintains his personal tennis web site, The Grandstand. You’ll be able to observe him on Twitter at @Dimonator.