Roger Federer won the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year award five times. His victories came in 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2018.
The first four awards recognized Federer’s extraordinary run in the middle of the 2000s. During that period, he won multiple Grand Slam titles, held the world No. 1 ranking for extended stretches and became the defining player of men’s tennis. His four consecutive Laureus wins from 2005 through 2008 were unprecedented in the category.
Federer returned to the top of the Laureus category in 2018 after a remarkable comeback season. In 2017, he won the Australian Open and Wimbledon, adding two more Grand Slam titles after a major knee injury had limited his previous season. At the 2018 ceremony, he also won Comeback of the Year, giving him six Laureus awards overall.
Readers sometimes confuse this total with his overall Laureus haul. Five is specifically his number of Sportsman of the Year trophies; his sixth Laureus award was for Comeback of the Year. Novak Djokovic later matched Federer’s five Sportsman of the Year wins.