Fair play king: Carlos Alcaraz honored with Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship Award for second time

Carlos Alcaraz was honored with the 2025 Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship Award for the second time in his career. The nominees are selected by a vote conducted by the International Tennis Writers' Association (ITWA), and then the winner is determined by the exclusive ATP No. 1 Club – comprising the 29 tennis players who have reached the top of the ranking in the Open Era.

This prestigious award goes to the player who, throughout the year, demonstrated the highest level of professionalism and integrity, who competed with his fellow players with the utmost spirit of fairness (fair play), and who promoted the sport through his off-court activities.

The award, previously called the ATP Sportsmanship Award, was renamed in honor of the Swedish former world No. 1 starting in 1996 – after he had won the award five times in those years. Among the nominees were Felix Auger-Aliassime and former award winners Grigor Dimitrov and Casper Ruud.

The 6-time major champion Alcaraz wins the award for the second time, following his victory back in 2023. Until 2024, the award was voted on by ATP players – following the ITWA nomination, but starting this year, the decision was made to grant the honor to the ATP No. 1 Club.

The Stefan Edberg Award was dominated by 20-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer, who claimed the distinction a total of 13 times in his career (2004-2009, 2011-2017). The only year the Swiss Maestro's dominance was interrupted was in 2010, when Rafael Nadal won the award for the first time. It was precisely the 22-time Grand Slam champion Spaniard who later succeeded Federer, winning the award four consecutive years – totaling 5 distinctions (2010, 2018-2021).

Other stars who won the award include former ATP Finals champion Alex Corretja (1996, 1998), former world No. 1 Pat Rafter (1997, 1999-2001), or more recently Casper Ruud (2022) and Grigor Dimitrov (2024).

This time it was Alcaraz who repeated the 2023 award after finishing the season as world No. 1, with a total of 8 titles, including two majors at Roland Garros and the US Open. The Spaniard played 80 matches during the year and finished with a 71-9 record.

As highlighted by the ATP, one of the notable sportsmanship moments of the season was when Alcaraz called a foul himself while facing Ben Shelton in the fourth round of the French Open. After winning the first set in the tie-break, Alcaraz was winning a point at 30-30 (which would give him a break point at the start of the second set).

The point in question involved Alcaraz approaching the net, and when Shelton attempted a passing shot, the Spaniard stretched out to reach the ball, managing to hit it millimeter-perfectly so that it passed the net and scored the point in his favor. However, Alcaraz quickly admitted that he had released the racket before hitting the ball, and conceded the point to his opponent.