{"id":32632,"date":"2026-04-21T16:18:56","date_gmt":"2026-04-21T14:18:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/?post_type=news&#038;p=32632"},"modified":"2026-04-21T16:18:56","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T14:18:56","slug":"tennis-duo-sabalenka-alcaraz-sweep-top-laureus-honours-in-madrid","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/news\/tennis-duo-sabalenka-alcaraz-sweep-top-laureus-honours-in-madrid\/","title":{"rendered":"Tennis duo Sabalenka, Alcaraz sweep top Laureus honours in Madrid"},"content":{"rendered":"<div dir=\"ltr\" data-olk-copy-source=\"MessageBody\">Tennis ruled the red carpet in Madrid on Monday as Aryna Sabalenka and Carlos Alcaraz were crowned Sportswoman and Sportsman of the Year at the Laureus Awards.<\/div>\n<div id=\"x_ms-outlook-mobile-signature\">\n<div dir=\"ltr\"><\/div>\n<div>The pair were honoured after glittering 2025 campaigns that saw them finish atop the women\u2019s and men\u2019s tennis rankings respectively.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\"><\/div>\n<div>Spaniard Alcaraz, 22, reclaimed the year-end world number one spot after capturing two Grand Slam titles at the French Open and US Open, underlining his supremacy across surfaces.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\"><\/div>\n<div>Belarusian Sabalenka, 27, meanwhile, stood alongside him in the winners\u2019 circle in New York and also reached the final in Australia and France, capping a season of relentless consistency.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\"><\/div>\n<div>With her triumph, Sabalenka joins a roll call of Laureus Sportswoman of the Year recipients from her sport including Serena Williams, Jennifer Capriati, Justine Henin and Naomi Osaka.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\"><\/div>\n<div>In a first for the awards, the ceremony was hosted by two athletes, both former Laureus winners Novak Djokovic and Eileen Gu. Last year\u2019s top honours went to gymnast Simone Biles and pole-vaulter Mondo Duplantis.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\"><\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\">Elsewhere, Rory McIlroy claimed the World Comeback of the Year Award after ending an 11-year wait to complete the career Grand Slam with a playoff victory at the 2025 Masters, a title he defended in 2026.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\"><\/div>\n<div>Formula One\u2019s Lando Norris was named World Breakthrough of the Year, while Paris St Germain took World Team of the Year after a trophy haul in 2025 that included the French league and Cup plus their first Champions League crown.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\"><\/div>\n<div>The Laureus World Sports Awards nominees are selected by the global media, while the winners are determined by the 69 members of the Laureus World Sports Academy.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\"><\/div>\n<div>The awards have been presented annually since 2000.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\"><\/div>\n<div>Winners:World Sportsman of the Year Award: Carlos AlcarazWorld Sportswoman of the Year Award: Aryna SabalenkaWorld Team of the Year Award: Paris St GermainWorld Breakthrough of the Year Award: Lando NorrisWorld Comeback of the Year Award: Rory McIlroyWorld Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability Award: Gabriel AraujoWorld Action Sportsperson of the Year Award: Chloe KimWorld Young Sportsperson of the Year Award: Lamine YamalLaureus Sporting Inspiration Award: Toni KroosLaureus Lifetime Achievement Award: Nadia ComaneciLaureus Sport for Good Award: Futbol Mas.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\"><\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\">\u2014Reuters\u2014<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":15058,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"news-type":[20],"class_list":["post-32632","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-sport","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"The awards have been presented annually since 2000.","published_date":"","news_description":"The awards have been presented annually since 2000.","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/32632","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/32632\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32633,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/32632\/revisions\/32633"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15058"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32632"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=32632"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}