It was a giant evening for tennis as each Carlos Alcaraz and Aryna Sabalenka gained particular person awards at the Laureus World Sports Awards in Madrid on Monday.
Alcaraz, who was sporting a brace on his wrist, opened up about his good 2025 season, as effectively as his health hopes heading into the French Open subsequent month, after being named Sportsman of the Year.
Meanwhile, Sabalenka was named Sportswoman of the Year as she mirrored on the classes she discovered from a “crazy” 2025.
As world No. 2 Alcaraz arrived at the awards ceremony, everybody was preserving a watch out for his proper wrist. Reports emerged final week that the Spaniard was affected by an damage after he withdrew from the Barcelona Open then subsequently pulled out of the Madrid Open, and these issues have been confirmed after he was seen together with his wrist immobilized on Monday.
Speaking to NCS Sports’ Amanda Davies, Alcaraz mentioned he was nonetheless ready to search out out the extent of the damage and hoped he could be again on courtroom quickly, with Roland Garros quick approaching.
“I could be better, to be honest,” he mentioned. “These issues occur. It is hopefully nothing severe, I don’t know but.
“It’s not about if you get injured, it’s about when and how you come back, so I’m just trying to take care of myself as good as I can and trying to be on court soon again.”
Alcaraz has continued his good type from final yr into this season, winning the Australian Open at the begin of the yr (the place he completed a career grand slam) after clinching each the French and US Opens in 2025.
Carlos Alcaraz: youngest man ever to finish a profession grand slam
Carlos Alcaraz turned the youngest man ever to finish a profession grand slam on Sunday, including the Australian Open title to his trophy cupboard after defeating Novak Djokovic in an enthralling males’s ultimate. NCS’s Don Riddell experiences.
But it wasn’t at all times easy crusing final marketing campaign, with the 22-year-old having to take a break early in the yr to reset his mentality. The time he took away from the sport, he mentioned, helped him rediscover his ardour as he stormed again with a recent method.
“I came back with a lot of joy again, happy to step on the court again,” he mentioned. “And I think after that, when you’re feeling good with yourself, when you feel happy with how you’re going to approach a tournament or a match, everything comes after all.”
Looking forward to this season, he mentioned the aim is of course to win each grand slam he can, though the Spaniard is totally conscious of how exhausting that feat is.
Instead, he’s simply centered on being prepared for each match, partly pushed by his ongoing rivalry with world No. 1 Jannik Sinner. The two superstars have pushed one another to new ranges and have gained between them each grand slam since the 2023 US Open.
“The rivalry that I have with Jannik, it’s in my mind every day,” Alcaraz mentioned.
“Every time that I’m going to step on the courtroom for apply, I’m simply eager about what I ought to do to be higher, what I ought to do once I’m going to face Jannik for the subsequent time, and I apply that.
“So I think this rivalry is really beautiful. I’m really grateful for having him around, although not when he beats me.”
It was an equally memorable season for girls’s world No. 1 Sabalenka, who picked up her Laureus Award after reaching three grand slam finals final season, profitable the US Open in the course of.
“2025 was a crazy year for me,” she advised NCS’s Davies. “A lot of lessons, a lot of tough lessons, but also a lot of incredible wins, a lot of unforgettable memories.”
Sabalenka was runner-up in each the Australian Open and French Open final season however mentioned she discovered lots from each defeats, notably the significance of controlling her feelings in the large moments.
“I have to always remind myself that I’m so strong, I’m so powerful, and I can go through whatever, and if it didn’t happen today, I know that I’m strong enough to come back next time and do a better job,” she mentioned.
“I’m actually really grateful for those tough losses because they teach me a lot. They help me to become much better not only as an athlete, but as a person as well.”
She was then capable of put her recreation collectively in time for the US Open, which she gained with a straight-sets victory towards American Amanda Anisimova in the ultimate.
To have fun that landmark victory, Sabalenka handled herself to a slightly particular prize: new pet canine Ash, named in honor of the present courtroom at Flushing Meadows the place she gained the title.
“It was a tough, tough season. I was achieving a lot, I was winning a lot, but in the finals of the grand slams, I wasn’t performing my best, and it was very disappointing,” she mentioned.
“To finally win a slam, I was so speechless, and even right now, thinking of that feeling, I don’t know what I was feeling. I was super proud, super happy, not only for me, but for my team.”
Sportsman of the Year: Carlos Alcaraz
Sportswoman of the Year: Aryna Sabalenka
World Team of the Year: Paris Saint-Germain (males’s squad)
World Breakthrough of the Year: Lando Norris
World Comeback of the Year: Rory McIlroy
World Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability: Gabriel Araújo
World Action Sportsperson of the Year: Chloe Kim
Sport for Good Award: Fútbol Mas