While the award itself may not harbour anywhere near the status of a Grand Slam title, it was yet more proof that Djokovic remains the one to beat in the viciously competitive world of men’s tennis.

But despite ending another incredible year as world number one, he still fails to garner the public affection a sportsman of his calibre surely deserves.

For so long, he has been going about his business in the shadow of Roger Federer, the Swiss maestro who many consider as the greatest player to ever pick up a racket, and when the Serbian is involved, the crowd will usually be throwing their support behind the man on the other side of the net.

His record in 2015 speaks for itself. Djokovic claimed three Grand Slam crowns - the Australian Open, Wimbledon and the US Open - and won a staggering 93 per cent of his matches throughout a dominant season which the majority of those on tour can only dream of.

Not only did he achieve these results in his usual commanding style, dictating play from the back of the court using his breathtaking array of shots to dismiss his opponents, but he did it with a smile, a trait which is usually enough to win over any sport’s fanbase.

He did it with humility, too, with his on court interview following his loss to Federer’s compatriot Stanislas Wawrinka in the final of the French Open in June testament to Djokovic as a person as he talked about respecting the Swiss and declared him as the “better player”, despite the obvious disappointment of his defeat on the iconic red clay.

Of course, like many of those who choose to live their lives in the ever-changing and continually complex sporting arena, he has had his moments, most notably when he raged at a ball girl for being too slow at Wimbledon, but by in large he remains a true role model for anyone wishing to take up tennis.

It continually baffles me how he doesn’t quite receive the adulation his achievements and ability clearly merits. There’s no reason why he can’t surpass the great Federer’s astonishing total of 17 Grand Slam titles - in fact, if he carries on at his current level, he could even draw level with the Swiss star before he turns 31.

Maybe Djokovic is a victim of his own dominance; his hard exterior not necessarily conducive to invoking popularity among tennis supporters.

There are those who feel his style is too robotic and his monopoly of his chosen field of tennis may be labelled as boring by some who perhaps just can’t quite comprehend his genius.

Yet when Federer was winning everything left, right and centre, this was never the case. Everywhere the now 34-year-old went, he was treated like a king, with swathes of fans cheering his every move in tournaments across the planet.

That trend is likely to continue throughout 2016, but it remains to be seen whether Djokovic, who recently reigned supreme once again at the season ending ATP World Tour Finals in London, will ever get the same reaction.

Of course, success doesn’t always equal support. In the case of professional football clubs, the sides who are the most triumphant are often the most passionately hated by opposition fans – many of whom chastise their rivals because they have lifted far more trophies than the team they choose to follow.

One other athlete who is experiencing a similar feeling is British distance runner Mo Farah, who secured an historic triple double by taking the 5,000 and 10,000 metres titles at the International Association of Athletics Federations World Championships in Beijing in August.

The Somalian-born Briton has been forced to fend off accusation after accusation about doping due to his links with controversial coach Alberto Salazar, an issue which was thrust into the limelight earlier this year.

Farah, the double reigning Olympic champion, has had his integrity continually questioned throughout 2015, a victim of guilt by association and even in his adopted home, he isn't quite as revered as some might think.

A recent indication of this came at the BBC Sports Personality of the Year, where despite the feat he achieved in Beijing, he only received the fifth-highest amount of votes, behind newly crowned world heavyweight champion Tyson Fury, the homophobic and bigoted boxer who managed to offend just about everyone with comments on homosexuality and paedophilia in an interview with the Mail on Sunday's Oliver Holt.

Djokovic and Spanish counterpart Rafael Nadal are two of the game’s top players who have never been able to avoid accusations of foul play, too, which may be another reason for the apparent apathy towards a man whose trophy cabinet continues to grow with every passing month.

Due to the sheer durability of both men, who are able to play at a consistently superhuman level, hammering the yellow fuzz back over the net at will for hours on end, there are those who believe those type of performances simply can’t be possible without the use of a foreign substance.

It seems such sentiments follow those who are lucky enough to be at the top of their game. You cannot win a race or a tennis match without someone, somewhere accusing you of doping, and what a true shame that is.

Nadal himself has been the subject of allegations in 2013 from a fellow professional, with Austrian Daniel Köllerer, banned from tennis for life back in 2011 for match fixing, claiming “It’s not possible that he tests negative”.

“After seven months out of the courts due to injury, he came back and won 10 out of 13 tournaments. That is impossible.”

Djokovic, meanwhile, has had his fair share of run-ins with the tennis authorities after he launched a scathing attack on the sport’s anti-doping programme two years ago following compatriot Viktor Troicki being hit with a 12-month ban for missing a drugs test.

He has always been quite outspoken on the issue, maintaining he has never put anything illegal into his body while offering strong views on those who have been caught doping, most notably disgraced seven-times Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong.

“I think it's a disgrace for the sport to have an athlete like this,” he said of the American back in 2013.

“It would be ridiculous for him to decline and refuse all the charges because it has been proven. He cheated many people around the world with his career, with his life story.”

What is also ridiculous is how Djokovic doesn’t get the acclaim he deserves, and maybe next year’s Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, the first edition of the Games to ever be held in South America, can catapult him to an even higher echelon.

The Olympic title has, thus far, remained a distant dream for the boy from Belgrade - he claimed bronze in Beijing seven years ago - but if he reaches the final on the hard courts at Rio 2016, there’s no doubt who the crowd will be cheering for if his opponent happens to be Federer.