Carlos Alcaraz wins Laureus Breakthrough of the Year award

New Delhi, May 9 (IANS) Spain's young tennis sensation Carlos Alcaraz has won the Laureus Breakthrough of the Year Award, becoming the fourth ATP Tour player after Marat Safin (2001), Rafael Nadal (2006) and Andy Murray (2013) to earn the honour.

The awards were announced Monday evening at a ceremony in Paris. It is the second consecutive year a tennis player has won the award after Emma Raducanu did so in 2022.

Alcaraz's victory at the 2022 US Open and rise to the world No.1 spot saw him collect the Laureus World Breakthrough of the Year Award. He enjoyed a phenomenal 2022 in which he won the US Open and became tennis's youngest-ever men's No.1 player. The Spaniard turned 20 a few days before picking up his Laureus Statuette.

"A very special night in Paris! Thank you for this Laureus World Breakthrough of the Year Award! Thank you to the academy and everyone who made this possible. And of course congratulations to all the winners and nominees!" Alcaraz wrote on Twitter.

Last year was a historic one for Alcaraz, who captured his first two ATP Masters 1000 titles in Miami and Madrid, lifted his maiden major trophy at the US Open and became the youngest World No. 1 in the history of the ATP Rankings (since 1973). The Spaniard capped it off by becoming the youngest year-end ATP No. 1.

Other nominees for the award were fellow tennis player Elena Rybakina, the Morocco men's football team, figure skater Nathan Chen and track and field star Tobi Amusan.

Other tennis players who were nominated for an award were Rafael Nadal (World Sportsman of the Year), Iga Swiatek (World Sportswoman of the Year) and Diede de Groot (World Sportsperson of the Year).

The 2023 Laureus World Sports Awards celebrated the best athletes of 2022 and some of the greatest of all time.