Robert Lewandowski heads a stellar list of nominees for the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year Award after a golden 12 months for Bayern Munich.
Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James, Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton and tennis great Rafael Nadal are also in contention. Joshua Cheptegei and Armand Duplantis complete the male nominees.
Poland striker Lewandowski enjoyed a memorable 2020 for the German giants, with his impeccable performances helping Bayern to a Bundesliga, DFB-Pokal and Champions League treble.
Across the top-five European leagues, no player could match Lewandowski's 45 goals scored in all competitions from January 1 to December 31 with Cristiano Ronaldo his nearest rival on 41.
In that 12-month period, only Barcelona great Lionel Messi (115) and Juventus superstar Ronaldo (85) registered more shots on target than Lewandowski's 83, while a shot-conversion rate of 34.09 was the fifth highest among players to score at least 20.
Reflecting his all-round contribution, Lewandowski recorded 12 assists in the calendar year, with team-mate Thomas Muller leading the way on an impressive 21.
Unsurprisingly, Lewandowski won a fifth Torjagerkanone (awarded to the Bundesliga's top scorer) overall and a third in a row thanks to 34 Bundesliga goals in 2019-20, higher than an expected goals rate of 26.9. His 15 goals in the Champions League were also a competition high.
In a stacked deck, James is included after a year that saw him win a fourth career NBA title and first with the Lakers, while he also claimed a fourth Finals MVP award.
Across six games in the Lakers' 4-2 triumph over the Miami Heat, James averaged 29.8 points, 11.8 rebounds and 8.5 assists, while he shot 59.1 per cent from the field and drained 41.7 per cent of three-point attempts.
Mercedes driver Hamilton won a seventh F1 drivers' title in 2020 to match the overall record of the legendary Michael Schumacher.
During another sensational season, the Briton reached 95 career race wins, which surpasses the previous benchmark of 91 set by Schumacher.
In a calendar year disrupted heavily by the coronavirus pandemic, Nadal still had personal reason to celebrate after winning a record-extending 13th French Open title.
His triumph at Roland Garros means he now stands alongside Roger Federer on 20 grand slams – the most achieved in the men's game.
Uganda's Cheptegei broke both 5,000 and 10,000 metres world records in 2020, while Duplantis of Sweden broke the indoor and outdoor pole vault record.
Tennis' global superstar Naomi Osaka is nominated for the Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year Award.
The Japanese was champion at the US Open in 2020, which took her career slam tally to three. She recently made that four by winning the first major of 2021 at the Australian Open.
Lyon captain Wendie Renard is in contention after helping her team to a fifth straight Women's Champions League title, while WNBA Finals MVP award winner Breanna Stewart is included after guiding the Seattle Storm to championship glory.
Cyclist Anna van der Breggen – who won both the road race and time trial at the World Championships – is up for the prize, as is skier Federica Brignone, the first Italian woman to win the overall World Cup.
Kenya's Brigid Kosgei completes the women's nominees after winning the rescheduled London Marathon by more than three minutes.
Bayern, the Lakers and Mercedes are all up for the World Team of the Year Award, as are Liverpool, who won a first English top-flight title in 30 years.
The Kansas City Chiefs make the list after winning a first Super Bowl since 1970, while Argentina's men's rugby team are nominated after earning a first ever win over three-time world champions New Zealand.
Patrick Mahomes' role in the Chiefs Super Bowl win earned him a nomination for the World Breakthrough of the Year Award, with Iga Swiatek up for the prize after winning the women's singles at the French Open aged 19, the youngest slam winner since 1990.
MotoGP world champion Joan Mir, Tour de France victor Tadej Pogacar, US Open male champion Dominic Thiem and prodigious Barcelona talent Ansu Fati complete that category.
'Belief more important than match sharpness', Alcaraz insists after reaching Roland-Garros quarter-finals
Carlos Alcaraz insisted believing in himself is more important than match sharpness, after booking his place in the French Open quarter-finals.
The 21-year-old is through to the last eight at Roland-Garros for the third year running - the youngest player to achieve the feat since Novak Djokovic (2006 to 2008) - after a dominant 6-3 6-3 6-1 victory over Felix Auger-Aliassime.
Although one of the favourites to go all the way in Paris, Alcaraz's preparations for the clay-court major were hampered by an injury to his right forearm.
The Spaniard was forced to withdraw from the Barcelona Open and Italian Open, while his fitness struggles were evident when Andrey Rublev beat him in the Madrid Open quarter-finals.
But Alcaraz, who continues to wear a supportive grip on his right arm, has not appeared too affected so far this fortnight, and seems to be going from strength to strength.
"The most important thing is to believe in myself," he said after beating Auger-Aliassime. "It doesn't matter that I don't have too many matches on my back and that I didn't come with a lot of rhythm.
"After every practice and every match, I was getting better and better and that was easy for me. On Phillipe Chatrier, it is easy for me to play.
"I had to put as much effort in as I could. I felt strong in the rallies, and I was going to have my chances to break his serve and the good intensity in the match helped a lot. If I made him feel in trouble on his serve, I knew I was going to have a lot of chances.
"I'm really happy with my performance today. I played a really high level of tennis. I know that Felix [Auger-Aliassime] is a great player. We were both playing great tennis today, but really happy to get that win in the end."
Next up is a mouth-watering quarter-final showdown with 2021 runner-up Stefanos Tsitsipas for a second straight year at Roland-Garros, with Alcaraz eyeing his sixth victory from six meetings between the players.
"I love this challenge and these kinds of matches," he added. "I have seen a lot Stefanos' matches lately. He has a lot of confidence right now and is playing great tennis.
"I think I have the key against him, so I will try to make him in trouble. I will try to show my best and, hopefully, the crowd will enjoy as much as me."
'It's not healthy' – Gauff warns tennis over late finishes after Djokovic thriller
Coco Gauff warned tennis must do more to protect player welfare after Novak Djokovic's remarkable late finish at the French Open on Saturday.
Djokovic edged a five-set thriller with Lorenzo Musetti, battling into the early hours of Sunday in Paris at Roland-Garros.
The third-round marathon finished at 3:08 a.m. local time in the French capital, shattering the tournament's previous latest finish of 1:25 a.m.
After overcoming Elisabetta Cocciaretto to reach the quarter-finals, Gauff lamented the late start times and the problems it could cause for both men and women's players.
"I feel like a lot of times people think you're done, but really at 3 a.m. [you're] probably not going to bed until 5 a.m. at the earliest, maybe 6 a.m. or 7 a.m.," said 2023 US Open women's champion Gauff.
"I definitely think it's not healthy.
"For the health and safety of the players, it would be in the sport's best interest to try to avoid those matches finishing or starting after a certain time."
The ATP and WTA tours brought a new ruling in January that matches cannot start after 11 pm local time.
That legislation does not apply to the four majors, though, and hits harder for the men playing best-of-five encounters.
World number one Iga Swiatek, who overcame Anastasi Potapova on Sunday, echoed Gauff's sentiment.
"It's not easy to play and it's not like we're going to fall asleep one hour after the match," said Swiatek.
"[Change] is not up to us. We need to accept anything that is going to come to us."
Alcaraz advances to third straight Roland-Garros quarter-final
Carlos Alcaraz advanced to his third successive French Open quarter-final, after a commanding straight-sets victory over Felix Auger-Aliassime.
The Spaniard, who has dropped just a single set across his four matches so far, wrapped up a dominant 6-3 6-3 6-1 success in two hours and 20 minutes on Court Philippe-Chatrier.
Auger-Aliassime, appearing in round four for the second time in three years at Roland-Garros, was affected by a groin issue during the second set, but the 21st seed was no match for an inspired Alcaraz.
After the pair exchanged breaks early in the opening set, the third seed broke in game eight on the way to drawing first blood.
Alcaraz then stole the advantage in the second set when he broke to 15 in game five, and followed suit in the ninth to double his lead.
The reigning Wimbledon champion was going from strength to strength, and raced into a 4-0 lead in set three, before wrapping up another dominant win that sets up a mouth-watering quarter-final clash with 2021 runner-up Stefanos Tsitsipas.
Data Debrief: Three in a row for Carlitos
Aged 21 years and 28 days old, Alcaraz is the youngest player to reach the French Open quarter-finals in three consecutive years since Novak Djokovic (2006 to 2008).
The Spaniard has now won each of the last 36 matches he has played at grand slams against players ranked outside the ATP's top 20.
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