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Roger Federer won the ATP Fan's Favorite award this year, making it the 19th straight time the Swiss has picked up the honor.
The first recipient of the award was Gustavo Kuerten in 2000. Marat Safin was voted the Fan Favorite for the next two years, but since 2003, Federer has won the award every single year.
The Swiss' ranking fell from sixth to 16th this year and he barely spent any time on the court, but that did not impact his popularity among the fans. Sections of the tennis community felt Federer should not have won the award given his prolonged absence, and former player Mardy Fish took to social media to jokingly express his disagreement at the Swiss' stranglehold over the prize.
"I’m gonna need to see a recount in years 2007 and 2014. Also, I saw him almost throw his racquet in 2009," Fish wrote on Twitter.
Fish is probably referring to Federer smashing his racket during his defeat to Novak Djokovic in the semifinals of the Miami Masters. The 40-year-old has had his fair share of controversial on-court moments but is still arguably the most admired and respected player on the planet.
Roger Federer will miss the Australian Open next month
The 40-year-old did not have a memorable 2021 season. He lost to Nikoloz Basilashvili in the quarterfinals of the Doha Open in his first tournament back.
Following an early exit at the Geneva Open, Federer reached the fourth round of the French Open but pulled out of his match against Matteo Berrettini to protect his body for the grasscourt season.
The Swiss then reached the quarterfinals at Wimbledon before losing in straight sets to Hubert Hurkacz. Federer underwent knee surgery shortly afterwards and did not feature for the rest of the season.
The 40-year-old recently confirmed that he will miss the 2022 Australian Open as he continues to recover from the surgery.
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