Tennis players Carlos Alcaraz, from Spain, and Aryna Sabalenka, from Belarus, won today the Laureus awards for best athletes of 2025, in a ceremony that took place at the Cibeles Palace, in Madrid.
Carlos Alcaraz, 22, had already won the Laureus award as breakthrough athlete in 2023, and today he beat Swede Armand Duplantis, pole vault world record holder and winner in 2025, who was trying to repeat the feat.
Slovenian cyclist Tadej Pogacar, world and European champion and winner of the Tour de France, was another of the main names on the list of candidates, which also included Spaniard Marc Márquez, MotoGP world champion, who could be the first motorcyclist to win the Laureus.
The remaining nominees were Italian tennis player Jannik Sinner and French footballer Ousmane Dembelé, teammate of Portuguese internationals Gonçalo Ramos, João Neves, Nuno Mendes, and Vitinha, who was decisive in Paris Saint-Germain’s winning season, with highlights including the unprecedented Champions League title, and who had already been awarded the Ballon d’Or and the FIFA The Best award.
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Alcaraz regained the world number one spot on November 3, 2025, and held it for 22 consecutive weeks, until he lost the Monte Carlo Masters 1000 final in early April to Jannik Sinner.
Winner of 26 ATP titles and current world number 2, Alcaraz won eight tournaments last year: Tokyo, United States, Cincinnati, Queens, Roland Garros, Rome, Monte Carlo, and Rotterdam, with a total of 71 wins and nine losses. This year, he won in Australia and Doha.
In turn, Belarusian tennis player Aryna Sabalenka, current world number one, was distinguished with the award for best female athlete of the year.
Sabalenka, 27, prevailed in the voting over Spanish footballer Aitana Bonmatí, recognized with this award in 2024 and winner of three Ballon d’Ors, and over American athletes Melissa Jefferson-Wooden, world champion in the 100, 200, and 4×100 meters, and Sydney McLaughlin, 400-meter world champion.
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The other candidates were Kenyan athlete Faith Kipyegon, 1,500-meter world champion, and American swimmer Katie Ledecky, double world champion.
The tennis player from Minsk, who has already won this year in Brisbane, Indian Wells, and Miami, is looking this week in Madrid for her fourth title of the season, after having won at the ‘Caja Mágica’ in 2021, 2023, and 2025, a year that ended with four titles – Brisbane, Miami, Madrid, and the United States – after reaching nine finals.
Her victory in the United States made her the first tennis player, after Serena Williams in 2014, who managed to revalidate the title in New York.
Rory McIlroy, from Northern Ireland, who successfully defended his Masters golf title this month, received the comeback of the year award.
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Footballer Lamine Yamal, star of FC Barcelona and the Spanish national team, won the young athlete of the year award and Formula 1 champion, Briton Lando Norris, received the world breakthrough of the year award.
Former German footballer Toni Kroos won the world sports inspiration award, and former Romanian gymnast Nadia Comaneci received the lifetime achievement award.
The action sports athlete of the year award went to American snowboarder Chloe Kim. Brazilian Gabriel Araújo was elected the athlete of the year with a disability.
The awards ceremony in the Spanish capital was hosted by tennis star Novak Djokovic and freestyle skier Eileen Gu, born in the United States but who competes for China.
