World No.2 Casper Ruud has won the 2022 Sportsmanship Award for his on-court behavior with fellow players throughout the season. Ruud, who is one of the nicest and most loved people on the ATP Tour, snapped a mammoth 18-year streak of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal winning the award.
Federer and Nadal have been winning the award since 2004 in which the Swiss maestro has won it 13 times while the 22-time Grand Slam champion has 5 scalps. Nadal won the award consecutively for the last 4 years and was once again in contention to win it this year but Ruud beat him to it. Nadal even took to social media to congratulate Ruud.
Ruud also became the first Scandinavian winner since Sweden’s Stefan Edberg won it for the fifth time in 1995. The 23-year-old expressed his gratitude after winning the award and thanked everyone who voted for him. He vowed to keep his mood in the right place for next year and said he can’t wait to be back on the court.
“A big thanks to everyone who voted for me for this year’s ATP Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship Award,” Ruud said. “I feel very, very honored and happy to win this prize this year. I will try to keep my mood in the right place for next year. Can’t wait to be back on the court.”
Casper Ruud’s historic 2022 season
Ruud had an amazing 2022 season where he reached a career-high of No.2 in the ATP Rankings. He won 3 titles this year- at Buenos Aires, Geneva, and Gstaad and also made it to his maiden Masters final. Apart from that, he also made it to his maiden major final at Roland Garros where he lost to Rafael Nadal.
He ended the year by having a shot at the No.1 ranking when he reached the final of the US Open before losing to Carlos Alcaraz. He was only the second player after Nadal to reach two major finals this year.
