For the second year in a row, Jannik Sinner has won the Fans' Favorite Singles Player award at the ATP Awards, the end-of-year awards for men's tennis.
The former American tennis player John Isner said he was very surprised by the award won by the Australian Open and US Open champion. Speaking on the podcast he hosts with Sam Querrey, Jack Sock and Steve Johnson, Isner was surprised by the outcome of this vote. Not because of the Italian's value in itself, obviously, but because of the entire debate surrounding the doping issue and the Clostebol case that arose as a result.
"I'm a little surprised. Not because of his personality, but his 2024 has been a little polarizing, because of the positive test that he was cleared of. A lot of people didn't like that and the fact that he was able to continue playing. So I thought that sentiment might hurt him a little bit in terms of fan favorite voting, but apparently that didn't happen, so kudos to him," said the American.
As is known, Sinner could still receive a ban from tennis, as the Court of Arbitration for Sport will have to decide after Wada's appeal. The hearing is not yet scheduled but will not be held before mid-February, with Sinner able to go to Australia to play the first Slam of 2025. Of course, there were a lot of criticisms around Jannik, in the recent months, like all the statements released by Nick Kyrgios since August 2024.
One of the other animators of the podcast, Sam Querrey, however, was not so surprised by the news, as he expected fans to recognize the Italian for his excellent 2024 season.
"I'm not surprised. He's the number one in the world. He's had one of the best seasons ever and that's fair enough. But for me Carlos Alcaraz seems like he has maybe a little more personality, that's why I thought Alcaraz could win the fan favorite award," he explained.
