Sabalenka and Alcaraz lead tennis sweep at Laureus Awards in Madrid

Tennis took the two biggest prizes at the Laureus World Sports Awards in Madrid, where Aryna Sabalenka and Carlos Alcaraz were named Sportswoman and Sportsman of the Year for the first time. The wins at Cibeles Palace, in the Glass Gallery, turned the ceremony into a snapshot of a sport that still supplies the clearest global stars, the most marketable rivalries and the widest cross-border audience in elite sport.

Laureus said the winners were chosen by the 69 members of its World Sports Academy, and the 2026 awards recognized achievements from 2025. Madrid hosted the gala for the third consecutive year, reinforcing the city’s role as a regular stage for major international sporting events. The ceremony drew a roll call of headline names, from football and motor racing to golf, and was watched by millions of sports fans around the world.

Alcaraz’s 2025 season included French Open and U.S. Open titles and a return to world No. 1, a combination that strengthened his case as the defining men’s tennis figure of his generation. Sabalenka added the U.S. Open to her resume and finished the year as world No. 1 on the WTA Tour, giving women’s tennis its own clear standard-bearer. Alcaraz said the award was especially meaningful because it came from people who understand sport deeply. Sabalenka said she was “shaking” and called being named alongside Laureus legends a dream.

The rest of the awards told a broader story about sport’s changing hierarchy. Paris Saint-Germain won Team of the Year after lifting its first UEFA Champions League title in the 2024-25 season. Lando Norris took Breakthrough of the Year after winning the World Drivers’ Championship, while Rory McIlroy’s Masters victory carried him to Comeback of the Year after years of close calls. Chloe Kim won Action Sportsperson of the Year for the third time, and 18-year-old Lamine Yamal received Young Sportsperson of the Year, a sign of how quickly football’s next generation is arriving on the global stage.

The ceremony also reached beyond the usual marquee competitions. Gabriel Araújo won the Laureus World Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability award, Toni Kroos received the Sporting Inspiration Award, Fútbol Más won the Laureus Sport for Good Award and Nadia Comaneci collected the Lifetime Achievement prize, marking 50 years since her perfect 10 in Montreal. Laureus said its Sport for Good work has reached more than six and a half million children and young people and supports more than 300 community sport programs worldwide, a reminder that the annual honors are designed not only to celebrate results, but to measure influence.