That may be so, but is it possible that he has actually been voted the fans' favourite for 12 years on the trot. Come on! Rafa always leads on social media by a mile in every tournament where it is measured and is, evidently, immensely popular all around the world. For the first time, yesterday, Moon Court had to be cordoned off to keep fans out during his doubles match. You'd think that he may have been voted fans' favourite just once since he turned pro.
The fact is, the Fans' Favourite Award is sponsored by Moet & Chandon who Sponsor Federer so it's a marketing exercise. Simple as that. As for the Stefan Edberg Award, don't get me started on that. Federer has won that since Adam was a boy except for 2010 when Rafa won it. Why? Because Federer is the only sitting nomination of 3 or 4 on the ballot paper put to the players every year. It's a joke. In 2014 Cilic, who had served a suspension for doping, was nominated along with Federer, of course, plus Dimitrov and Nishikori. It's not rocket science what is going on here.