Nadal wins Laureus Sportsman of the Year

The Laureus Awards are like the Oscars of the sporting world. They are given annually to athletes from all sports who achieved excellence and had unparalleled results in their respective fields. Among the awards given out are:

• Sportsman of the Year
• Sportswoman of the Year
• Team of the Year
• Breakthrough of the Year
• Comeback of the Year

This year, by winning three of the four major titles in 2010 and becoming the youngest player ever to achieve a career Grand Slam, Rafa Nadal was given the Sportsman of the Year award. Congrats Rafa!!

He was nominated for Sportsman of the year once before - in 2009 for his stellar performance in 2008 (winning the French Open, Wimbledon, and the Olympic gold all in the same year) but lost out to Usain Bolt. He also has one Laureus trophy already, when he won newcomer of the year in 2006, but that obviously doesn't compare to the top prize.

He may have lost in the quarterfinals of the the Australian Open this year (a painful loss because he was on track to win his 4th Grand Slam title before being sidetracked by injury), but it's nice to see his historic 2010 recognized with a Laureus.

*****

While we're at it, congratulations to Novak Djokovic and Kim Clijsters for winning the Australian Open. This is Novak's 2nd slam and 2nd Australian Open crown. Kim has now won 2 Grand Slam titles in a row, and has four overall. Kim's immense success after returning from retirement is truly spectacular. She arguably has better results now than she had in the first incarnation of her career, winning 3 Slams after she returned to the tour (as opposed to her solitary US open before she went into her first "retirement").