Roger Federer earned the ATP Tour's Stefan Edberg sportsmanship award for a record fifth consecutive year, and he was chosen the favorite player for the sixth year in a row in a poll of fans on Wednesday.
Top-ranked Rafael Nadal was chosen player of the year, and first-year pair Daniel Nestor of Canada and Nenad Zimonjic of Serbia was selected doubles team of the year.
James Blake of the United States won the Arthur Ashe humanitarian of the year award for his charitable efforts, and Rainer Schuettler of Germany was chosen comeback player of the year. France's Jo-Wilfried Tsonga was chosen most improved, and Japan's Kei Nishikori won newcomer of the year.
"It is great to receive two more awards," Federer said. "It is always important for me to be a good sportsman on the court and give the right example for others to follow and hopefully inspire the next generation. It also means the world to me to be the fans' favorite player for the sixth year in a row."
Edberg won the sportsmanship award five times over eight years.
The World No. 2 Federer also said that he was not going to analyze his recent defeats by Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray and believed an aggressive approach would bring him back to winning form.
Federer has not won a Masters title since 2007 and has lost his last five matches against Nadal, including the five-set thriller in the Australian Open last month. After that disappointment, the Swiss player lost out to Britain's Murray in the semifinals at Indian Wells last week.
"You could analyze in a big way but at the same time, it just happens sometimes. Of course I was disappointed at the way the match ended in Australia and also in Indian Wells but it is not the end of the world," he said. "It doesn't really play on my mind a whole lot because I go out there and try to play every point as tough as I can."
Federer says he has only one route to beating Nadal.
"I've tried many different things against Rafa. Usually it is the aggressive playing style that makes me beat Rafa, especially on the hard courts. I haven't had many chances on hard courts against him, I've had so many more on clay," he added.
(Agencies via Shanghai Daily March 27, 2009)
