Messi athlete of the year 2022? Nadal has won two Grand Slams and set a record, yet a Real Madrid fan wishes the prize to the Argentine star

Lionel Messi and Rafael Nadal are two of the best athletes not only of their time. Now they will compete for the prestigious prize, the winner of which will be seen as the Sportsman of the Year 2022. However, despite his achievements, the Spanish tennis player wishes the Argentine footballer the victory.

The year 2022 has been in the past for a while now and various evaluations and polls are currently underway. The Laureus Award for the best athlete of the past year will be presented again this year, and there are some really interesting names in the nominations.

Footballers Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappé, tennis players Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz, NBA star Stephen Curry, F1 driver Max Verstappen and athlete Mondo Duplantis will compete for the award.

Messi and Nadal are among the big favourites. Both have had a phenomenal year. Messi finally took Argentina to the dream World Cup trophy and wrote a fantastic story.

Nadal, for a change, won the Australian Open and Roland Garros in 2022, which took him to 22 Grand Slam titles, a record at the time, but only matched by Novak Djokovic in 2023.

It’s no secret then that Nadal is a big fan of Real Madrid. However, he is a great professional and despite his great year, the award for best sportsman of the year goes not to himself but to the former Barcelona star.

“It’s an honour to be nominated for the Laureus Sportsman of the Year award again, but this year… Come on, Leo Messi, you deserve it,” Nadal expressed on his Instagram account.

Messi, by the way, has been playing in great form all year. The second half of his first season in Paris was excellent and he started his second season at PSG in even better form. He is, among other things, the bookmakers’ favourite to win the Ballon d’Or.

Source: Twitter, Laureus Sport