Two voices were impressed by the public opinion situation at that time: one thought that Djourou would surely win the award. Many said that the focus of the Laureus awards was on individual performance and that there was no need to worry about the Serbian ace this time around, just sit back and wait for the good news. The other voice was full of sadness, saying that Djourou had withdrawn from the Madrid Masters and that Muguruza had even announced her retirement. This year's Madrid has already broken people's hearts, and if Djourou can't win this time, it will make the city furious, and the tennis GOAT will once again be no match for the so-called "traffic".
It is due to the intense clash of these two voices that this year's Laureus Sports Awards are in the spotlight of public opinion, with many even staying up late to watch the awards live in order to find out whether or not De Jong will end up winning the award. Everyone wanted to know if this Good Man Award would be another surprise and whether Messi or Deyo would have the last laugh.
Fortunately, the final result satisfied the fans and netizens, Deyo finally happy to hold this small gold medal, so that his supporters finally at ease, but also many fans and netizens feel deeply, "this time, the Laureus Sports Award did not fall into the hands of the traffic."
In the first part of the season, Djourou has yet to achieve any victory, but hopes that by breaking the 'title drought' at the Laureus event, it will bring him more motivation and good luck to get better performances on the court as the world number one. Seeing the happy smile on De Jong's face, some fans and netizens were infected and expressed their excitement and sent their best wishes to the Serbian ace.
Looking back at the Laureus Best Man Award, which has caught the attention of millions of fans and netizens, it is clear that De Jong's win was well deserved, and rightfully so. In addition to the frequent gestures made by Laureus officials through postings prior to the announcement, external odds showed that Messi was not considered by many to be the favorite for the Best Man award, and was seen as a greater threat to De Jong. The soccer emperor is only third on the odds list, while De Jong is the most sought-after candidate, with odds ahead of the other nominees, and is seen as the most likely winner.
De Jong's success in winning this year's Laureus Good Man Award increases his total number of little gold men to five and ties Swiss ace Federer's record for the award. The two of them became the most frequent winners of the award, sharing five trophies. That makes tennis a strong performer when it comes to the Laureus Good Men Awards, with a total of 12 trophies, including five each for De Jong and Federer and two for Nadal.
In addition, Djourou has been nominated six times and won five Best Male nominations in addition to winning this year's Laureus Best Male Athlete award, which is considered to be the most awarded athlete. Some people have pointed out that according to the information given by AI, Nadal has been nominated for Best Male nine times and won twice, while Federer has been nominated seven times and won five Best Male awards. Obviously, Deyo has excelled the most in this regard!
While Djourou's win cheered many, this year's Laureus Sports Awards were a disappointment to many fans and netizens.
The 2024 Laureus Sport Awards ceremony saw Svartak nominated for Best Female in addition to De Jong's nomination for Best Male, Gough fighting for Best Breakthrough, and Vandrosova competing for Best Comeback. However, contrary to expectations, tennis was not allowed to be the biggest winner of the awards once again, with only Djourou winning the Best Male Individual award.
In the Purple Flower Championship, Swatek lost to eventual winner Bon Mattei, who led the Spanish women's soccer team to the Women's World Cup title. Gough lost to Real Madrid's Bellingham. Vanjesova lost to gymnastics queen Biles, who won four gold medals at last year's World Gymnastics Championships.
However, this year's public service award was presented to the Nadal Foundation for "its belief in the transformative power of sport, which has helped more than 1,000 disadvantaged young people in Spain and India to reach their full potential". Seeing both Djokovic and Nadal on the podium together was an added consolation for fans and netizens who were disappointed that tennis was not the biggest winner of this year's Laureus Sports Awards.
After Djourou became the only tennis player to grace the opening screen of the Laureus Sports Awards this year, many expect the good fortune to help the Serbian ace bring a fresh look to the court, and he is expected to remain a favorite to compete for the Laureus Best Male Athlete award next year.
