Carlos Alcaraz, Aryna Sabalenka lead nominations for 2025 Laureus World Sports Awards

The nominees for the 2025 Laureus World Sports Awards were unveiled on Monday, and tennis was well represented with Carlos Alcaraz and Aryna Sabalenka leading in top categories.

Alcaraz will go for his second Laureus statuette at the 26th edition of the prestigious ceremony, after being named among the candidates for World Sportsman of the Year. The Spaniard lifted two Grand Slam trophies in 2024, winning Roland Garros and Wimbledon back-to-back and defending his title at the BNP Paribas Open.

The 21-year-old was nominated alongside Mondo Duplantis (Athletics, Sweden), Leon Marchand (Swimming, France), Tadej Pogacar (Cycling, Slovenia) and Max Verstappen (Motor Racing, Netherlands).

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“Very happy to have been nominated for Laureus World Sportsman of the Year! Thanks to the Laureus Academy for the nomination!” Alcaraz shared on social media. He previously won the Laureus Breakthrough of the Year award in 2023.

Two-time Grand Slam winner Sabalenka also bagged a nomination for World Sportswoman of the Year after winning the Australian Open and US Open as well as two WTA 1000 trophies in Cincinnati and Wuhan.

The world No. 1 was nominated alongside Simone Biles (Gymnastics, USA), Aitana Bonmati (Football, Spain), Sifan Hassan (Athletics, Netherlands), Faith Kipyegon (Athletics, Kenya) and Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone (Athletics, USA).

Wheelchair tennis champion Tokito Oda of Japan was also nominated in the World Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability category, after winning the Australian Open and Roland Garros back to back and reaching all four major finals in doubles, partnering Takuya Miki.

All categories featured six nominees, except for Sportsman of the Year which featured only five names after Jannik Sinner’s nomination was withdrawn last week in the wake of his three-month ban.

Read More: Jannik Sinner's nomination for Laureus sportsman of year withdrawn after ban

"Following discussions by the Laureus Academy it has been decided that Jannik Sinner's nomination for this year's Laureus world sportsman of the year award is to be withdrawn," said Sean Fitzpatrick, Laureus World Sports Academy chairman.

"We have followed this case, the decisions of the relevant global bodies and—whilst we note the extenuating circumstances involved—feel that the three-month ban renders the nomination ineligible. Jannik and his team have been informed."

The nominees were selected by a panel of 1,400 international sports journalists, with the winners to be chosen by members of the Laureus World Sports Academy. The winners will be unveiled at a ceremony in Madrid, Spain on April 21.