"Congratulations Rafa for winning the Roger Federer award"- Fans react to Rafael Nadal winning the Fans' Favorite Award for the first time

Spanish tennis icon Rafael Nadal has bagged his maiden Fans' Favorite Award at the 2022 ATP Awards. This is the first time since 2002 that the award has gone to someone other than the Swiss maestro Roger Federer.

Nadal became only the fourth-ever holder of the award after Gustavo Kuerten, Marat Safin, and Roger Federer.

Following Nadal's maiden win, fans reacted to the former World No. 1's achievement online. One fan dubbed the award the "Roger Federer award" and congratulated the Spaniard.

"Congratulations Rafa for winning the Roger Federer award," the tweet read.

The iconic duo of Nadal and Federer is affectionately called "Fedal" by their supporters. A Twitter user expressed happiness at Fedal's continued dominance at the award.

"Fedal has 100% of Fan's Hearts...Forever!," another tweet read.

Another post highlighted the fact that the southpaw's win put an end to Federer's winning streak of 19 years.

"After 19 years of unchallenged dominance by Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal is FINALLY voted Fans' Favorite Player according to the ATP," they captioned the post.

A fan saw the award going from Federer to Nadal as a "passing of the torch" moment.

"Federer passing his fans' fave torch onto Nadal after retiring," another post read.

Below are a few more fan reactions to Rafael Nadal winning the Fans' Favorite Award:

"I can’t thank you enough everyone for the support not only for this award, but at the same time for all the support that I receive in every single city" - Rafael Nadal

Rafael Nadal v Alejandro Talibo - Copa Museo de la Moda

The 22-time Grand Slam champion showed the tennis world this year that he still has some of his best tennis left in him. The veteran won a thrilling five-setter against Daniil Medvedev to win the Australian Open. He also beat Novak Djokovic en route to the French Open title, his second Major of the year.

After receiving the honor, Rafael Nadal said he was "very delighted" and that it meant everything to him. The 36-year-old is now looking forward to a more successful 2023 season, when he will be the reigning champion at the year's first two Grand Slam events.

“I am super happy to receive the Fans’ Favourite Award [in] 2022. It makes me feel great. I can’t thank you enough everyone for the support not only for this award, but at the same time for all the support that I receive in every single city and event around the world,” he said.

“That means everything to me, so I am very [much] looking forward to 2023 to share a lot of positive things again. See you soon!”