clayqueen
Talk Tennis Guru
No it's not the players who nominate the candidates that are put to the vote. It's the International Tennis Writers Association who supposedly nominate the 4 players that are put to the vote and Federer is always one of the nominees every single year.It is nomination by peers. He played half a season and that was enough for them to see where he stands vis a vis the rest of the tour
From the ATP WEBSITE
Federer, Murray, Nadal, Wawrinka nominated for Sportsmanship award
Welcome to the 2016 ATP World Tour Awards Presented by Moët & Chandon, where we recognise outstanding players and tournaments. View the nominees for the player-voted categories, as selected by ITWA, and cast your votes now for ATPWorldTour.com Fans' Favourite presented by Moët & Chandon.
http://www.atpworldtour.com/en/news/atp-awards-2016-categories-nominees