Rafael Nadal and Lindsey Vonn Win 2011 Laureus Awards

The Spanish tennis star Rafael Nadal won the Sportsman of The Year, while the American skiing athlete Lindsey Vonn won the Sportswoman of The Year. Those are the top honors of 2011 Laureus World Sports Awards.

Established in 1999, Laureus World Sports Awards are awarded annually to sportspeople who have been outstanding during the previous year. This year event, which was held in Abu Dhabi on 7 February 2011, also chose Spain World Cup winner as World Team of The Year.

Rafael Nadal is the winner of three Grand Slam titles in 2010. He beat other nominees including Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant, Filipino boxer Manny Pacquiao and Barcelona footballers Andres Iniesta and Lionel Messi.


Lindsey Vonn, winner of the women's downhill at the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games and a third consecutive overall World Cup title, took the sportswoman's award. Among the other nominees are high jumper Blanka Vlasic and tennis players Serena Williams, Kim Clijsters and Caroline Wozniacki.



These are the complete list of 2011 Laureus Award Winners:

World Sportsman of the Year: Rafael Nadal (Spain)

World Sportswoman of the Year: Lindsey Vonn (US)

World Team of the Year: Spain World Cup Team

World Breakthrough of the Year: Martin Kaymer (Germany)

World Comeback of the Year: Valentino Rossi (Italy)

World Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability: Verena Bentele (Germany)

World Action Sportsperson of the Year: Kelly Slater (US)

Lifetime Achievement Award: Zinedine Zidane (France)

Spirit of Sport Award: European Ryder Cup team

Sport for Good Award: May El-Khalil, founder of the Beirut Marathon

Inside and Outside The Match: Tennis Players

When in the match, athletes can be look so strong, determined, focused, sometime even scary. But they seem to have a completely different personality outside the field. That's why I add a new category, athlete's galleries, in which we can see their appearance in daily life.

For the first post, I post galleries of tennis players, both men and women. As we know, tennis is a sport which produces tons of beautiful athletes, some of them even categorized as a model. Just check their pics below:

1. Maria Sharapova (Russia)



Former number one player for several times, and already won three grand slam titles. Currently 23-year-old this month, she still has a lot of chances of adding her titles.


2. Sania Mirza (India)



Mirza is one of the most famous Indian athletes in the world. She’s only won one event, but has played well in her career, achieving a ranking high of 27th (2007). Distracted by her personal life, her current rank is 90 (April 2010), but in her 24th age she still has a long way to go.


3. Rafael Nadal (Spain)



Series of injuries made Nadal's rank dropped from top to 3rd place. With 6 grand slam titles and Olympic gold medal, he now seeks an opportunity to rise again to face his rivals.


4. Ana Ivanovic (Serbia)



Ana Ivanovic is the 2008 French Open winner, and one of the top players in the world. She’s also considered as the hottest current female player in tennis, after Anna Kournikova retired.


5. Andy Murray (Great Britain)



Britain's biggest hope to win a grand slam title after more than three decades, Murray still struggling to defeat his trauma after defeated in two grand slam's finals. With 22 year of age and current rank at no.4, it's just a matter of time.


6. Tatiana Golovin (France)



Born in Russia but have French citizenship, Golovin reached her personal career best ranking of 12th in 2008. She has two career titles and has made fairly deep runs into all four of the Grand Slam events at various times. She is dating Arsenal midfielder, Samir Nasri, at this moment.


7. Roger Federer (Switzerland)



Nuff said' about this one. Born to be legend, might be the best tennis player ever. Federer has won 16 Grand Slam singles titles, more than any other male player. Considering his age (28-year-old) Fed Ex won't retired soon, pity for his rivals...


8. Elena Dementieva (Russia)



Another Russian babes of tennis (why're they so hot and talented in this sport??), Dementieva is 2008 gold medal winner in Beijing. She is currently the fourth ranked player in the world. She’s yet to win a Grand Slam, but has reached the finals of the US Open and French.