Russian tennis player Maria Sharapova and Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic have been named the best sportsmen of 2014, according to the voting made by the United States Sports Academy.

      Female Athlete of the Year, Maria Sharapova, is currently ranked second in the world to Serena Williams of the United States, according to WTA. She gained a lot of victories in 2014, including the Madrid Open Championship title, where she defeated Simona Halep 1-6, 6-2, 6-3. She also won the 2014 French Open Championship with a 6-4, 6-7, 6-4 victory also over Halep. It was her 2nd French Open title and 5th Grand Slam win.

      Male Athlete of the Year, Noval Djokovic, is currently ranked No. 1 in the world. This year he won his fourth Sony Open Title by defeating Rafael Nadal, with a 6-3, 6-3 win. In addition, Djokovic defeated Roger Federer 6-7 (7), 6-4, 7-6 (4), 5-7, 6-4 to win the 2014 Wimbledon singles title. The win was his second Wimbledon title and seventh grand slam title. Novak Djokovic was recently named 2014 ITF Men’s World Champion.

      On the whole, there were 12 men and 12 women from 12 different countries nominated as the best athletes. Only Russia and Ethiopia had two representatives (other countries had only one sportsman). Besides Sharapova, Russian Olympic gold winner, short track speed skater, Viktor Ahn was nominated as Male Athlete of the Year.

      This year the United States Sports Academy organize the annual voting for the 30th time. Online voting took place on the Academy’s official website from December 1-24. The winners announcement came on Christmas Eve as an early holiday present to the athletes and all sports lovers.