ATP released the list of nominees for the award on Wednesday, while also naming the contenders for the Coach of the Year prize. In the latter category, Dominic Thiem’s trainer - Nicolas Massu - has been nominated, but Nadal’s coach Carlos Moya has missed out.
Novak Djokovic’s coaches - Marjan Vajda and Goran Ivanisevic - aren’t in contention for the coaching award either, which is a bit surprising given the Serb’s sensational season.
Rafael Nadal is looking to win the Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship Award for the third year in a row and fourth time overall. The other three - including Dominic Thiem - have never won the coveted honor.
Thiem was among the nominees last year but lost out to Rafael Nadal. Interestingly, if the Spaniard fails to take home the prize this time, it would be the first instance since 2004 that neither Roger Federer nor Rafael Nadal wins the award.
The Swiss legend is not among the nominees this year, which is the first such occurrence since 2002. Federer has won the Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship Award a record 13 times, the last of which came in 2017.
The winner of the Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship Award is adjudged keeping in mind the following guidelines as specified on the ATP site.
Dominic Thiem’s coach Nicolas Massu the frontrunner to win Coach of the Year
The nominees for Coach of the Year include Gilles Cervara (Daniil Medvedev), Nicolas Massu (Dominic Thiem), Juan Ignacio Chela (Diego Schwartzman), Riccardo Piatti (Jannik Sinner) and Fernando Vicente (Andrey Rublev).
Among them, Medvedev’s coach - Gilles Cervara - has already been a winner in this category; he took home the prize 12 months ago. Nicolas Massu has never won the award, but many believe he is the favorite this year given that he led Dominic Thiem to his maiden Slam trophy.
Surprisingly, Carlos Moya has not made the cut despite guiding Rafael Nadal to a record-equaling 20th Grand Slam title. Moya’s inputs were immensely vital in helping Nadal win his historic 13th French Open trophy in October.
Rafael Nadal overcame numerous adverse conditions at Roland Garros this year, and the manner in which he beat Novak Djokovic in the final was truly special. A lot of the credit for that goes to his coaching staff, including Moya, who brought about some vital tactical changes to the 34-year-old’s game.
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