Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner top the list of tennis nominees for the 2026 Laureus World Sports Awards after contrasting but equally dominant 2025 campaigns. The ATP world No. 1 Alcaraz and world No. 2 Sinner are both in contention for the Laureus Sportsman of the Year award following seasons that produced multiple major titles and season-defining achievements.

Alcaraz captured Roland Garros and the US Open and clinched the year-end No. 1 ranking. Sinner lifted trophies at the Australian Open, Wimbledon and the ATP Finals in Turin. The winner will be announced April 20 at Madrid’s Cibeles Palace. The annual ceremony, which celebrates the world’s greatest athletes and recognizes “the inspirational power of sport and its ability to change lives,” takes place during the Mutua Madrid Open.

Other Sportsman of the Year nominees include Ousmane Dembele, Mondo Duplantis, Marc Marquez and Tadej Pogacar. Tennis has a storied history in the Laureus awards; the only previous tennis players to earn Sportsman of the Year honors are Roger Federer (2005–2008, 2018), Rafael Nadal (2011, 2021) and Novak Djokovic (2012–2015, 2016, 2019, 2024), a group often referred to as the sport’s “Big Three.” Men’s tennis players remain the most decorated in that category, with 12 total wins compared with Formula One and athletics, which have five apiece.

On the women’s side, WTA world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka leads the Sportswoman of the Year nominees after clinching her fourth Grand Slam title at the US Open in 2025 and finishing runner-up at the Australian Open, Roland Garros and the WTA Finals in Riyadh. She is nominated alongside Aitana Bonmati, Melissa Jefferson-Wooden, Katie Ledecky and Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone. Four former WTA world No. 1s have previously won the award: Jennifer Capriati (2002), Serena Williams (2003, 2010, 2016, 2018), Justine Henin (2008) and Naomi Osaka (2021). Williams is tied with Simone Biles for the most wins at four.

Younger and returning players were also acknowledged. Brazilian teenager Joao Fonseca received a Breakthrough of the Year nomination after main-draw wins at all four Grand Slams, a first Top 10 victory over Andrey Rublev and titles in Buenos Aires (ATP 250) and Basel (ATP 500). Amanda Anisimova earned a Comeback of the Year nomination after reaching back-to-back Grand Slam finals at Wimbledon and the US Open, two years after announcing an indefinite mental health break from the sport.

Goran Ivanisevic has started a new coaching trial with 21-year-old Arthur Fils, a brief alliance that arrived at the Qatar Open in late February. The pairing was described by Fils in measured praise: “a hell of a champion,” adding, “Maybe it’s best for me to have his experience as a coach, and a player.”

The 54-year-old 2001 Wimbledon champion and one-time ATP Tour career leader in ace production arrives after two short, public coaching experiments. He worked briefly at the end of 2024 with Elena Rybakina; that experiment ended before the Australian Open amid a dispute tied to the suspension of her coach, Stefan Vukov. In May of 2025 Ivanisevic signed on to guide Stefanos Tsitsipas, whose split from his father/coach Apostolo left him searching for direction. Tsitsipas, once as high as No. 3, had slipped outside the ATP top twenty in part due to injury.

The Tsitsipas relationship collapsed after Wimbledon, where Tsitsipas retired during his first-round Wimbledon clash with Valenin Royer. Frustrated, Ivanisevic was unusually candid. “I was shocked. I’ve never seen such a poorly prepared player in my life,” he told SportsKlub. “Me, at my age and with this bad knee, I’m three times in better shape than him. I’m not sure what he was doing in the previous 12 months, but his current shape is very poor.” Tsitsipas later announced the split on Instagram: “Working with Goran Ivanisevic was brief but an intense experience and a truly valuable chapter in my journey. . . I have only respect for Goran — not just for what he’s achieved in tennis, but also for who he is as a person. I wish him nothing but the very best moving forward.”

Ivanisevic’s résumé includes guiding Novak Djokovic to his record 23rd Grand Slam title in Paris in 2023 and a three-year partnership with Marin Cilic that culminated in Cilic’s 2014 U.S. Open triumph. Observers point to Fils’ combination of serve, forehand and athleticism as fertile ground for Ivanisevic’s coaching. “I think Goran can do some good work with Fils,” Jimmy Arias told me recently. “The Fils serve was one of the things that needed work. And I do think he’s [Ivanisevic] is probably very good at that. And then, if he’s that into the ‘I’m 54 and I’m in better shape than him’ mentality he’s going to work Fils hard. It’s all good things.”

Fils has seven wins over Top 10 opponents and reached a career-high ranking of No. 14 in spring 2025. He suffered a season-ending stress fracture at Roland Garros, lost roughly 15 pounds during recovery, returned to reach the Qatar Open final (l. to Carlos Alcaraz) and later withdrew from Dubai with a hip injury. If his health holds, the trial with Ivanisevic could be consequential.

Bianca Andreescu has spent the opening months of 2026 reshaping her game and her schedule in search of the player who burst onto the scene in 2019. Her doubles ranking of 160 currently sits five places above her singles ranking, a jarring statistic for a former US Open, Canadian Open and Indian Wells champion who has not captured a WTA title since that breakout season. She also lost eight of her last 11 matches in 2025.

“I’m trying to, I guess, reclaim that dangerous, fearless Bianca that can really stand a chance against anyone, and I think I’m getting there,” Andreescu said. “I just feel that, before, I was focusing too much on, you know, trying to go back to 2019, so living in the past.

“And now…it’s like recreating the new Bianca, what is it? 7.0.”

Ranked 227 at the start of the year, Andreescu entered a W35 in Bradenton, Fla., as the No. 1 seed, won five matches to collect $4,860 and 35 WTA points, then reached a semifinal at a second W35 before winning a W75 in Vero Beach to close a 13-1 January. “Going back to those levels, was a decision obviously that wasn’t easy, right? In a way, I guess I’m going the Agassi route,” she said to Brad Gilbert. “I think what’s amazing is I finally got some match rhythm, which I haven’t had over the last few years. I got as many matches as I did in those three weeks, like all of last year.”

After a main-draw match in Austin, Andreescu accepted a wild card into the BNP Paribas Open. If she advances, she could meet Coco Gauff. “It’ll be interesting to see how my level right now, with what I’m implementing and what I’m working on, can show face against someone like that,” she said. “I’m very excited.”

On the men’s side, Sebastian Korda has also altered course. The 25-year-old carries three career titles and a 2023 Australian Open quarterfinal on his résumé, but struggles with injury and inconsistency followed. “I would say since coming back on tour after my leg injury, it was definitely…the darkest time in my tennis career,” he said. “I was just getting a lot of anxiety when I was coming back from court, so disconnected from playing matches.”

Korda dropped down to play a Challenger, reached the San Diego final, beat Michael Zheng and Frances Tiafoe in Dallas and then won Delray Beach, defeating Alex Michelsen, Casper Ruud, Flavio Cobolli and Tommy Paul. Unseeded at Indian Wells, he opens against Francisco Comesana and has new coach Ryan Harrison at his side. “I’m feeling the best physically that I’ve felt the last couple of years,” he said. “Hopefully it stays that way.”