Tennis News: Emma Raducanu and Rafael Nadal win the ESPY award for best tennis athlete of the year

Rafael won his 22nd Grand Slam singles title and 14th French Open title this year by defeating Casper Ruud in the finals. He also won the Wimbledon quarter-final; however, he had to pull out of the tournament due to a severe abdominal injury allowing Nick Kyrgios, his opponent in the semi-finals, to move to the finals without any fight. 

Rafael Nadal is currently holding the record for the highest number of Grand Slam victories, with Novak Djokovic right behind him with 21 Grand Slam titles; he recently won his 21st singles title in Wimbledon this month. Rafael formerly won the title in 2011 and 2014, while his arch enemies, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic, have won the title nine and four times, respectively. Roger Federer hasn't been seen on court in about a year, Nadal recently suffered a grave injury and had to pull out of Wimbledon, and Djokovic's decision to not get vaccinated is costing him many vital tournaments. Given the ongoing developments, many believe that the era of the Big Three is about to end. 

As far as Emma Raducanu is concerned, she is the current US Open champion worldwide. She won the US Open 2021 by beating Leylah Fernandez and secured a place in the top 10. Although she didn't do all that well in the French Open or the Wimbledon, she defeated big players like Iga Swiatek, world no. 1, and Ashleigh Barty to win the championship. She won 10 straight matches without dropping even a single set to get to the top in last year's US Open. 

While she made a strong impression during the US Open last year, she failed to clear round twos in both Wimbledon and French Open, sparking a huge social media debate among tennis fans on whether she deserves the award. Though some fans celebrated her accomplishment, others spoke against it. A Twitter user tweeted, "EMMA RADUCANU IS OVERRATED!! She doesn't deserve this for sure.. None of the "real" talents in women's."

"Swiatek had a 37-winning streak, actually surpassed Venus Williams at that and Raducanu won? Like she barely made it past the Wimbledon Round of something. Pure bull***t…" wrote another Twitter user.