The 2024 women’s tennis season was eventful, with champions crowned and records broken. However, it was also a year filled with major upsets, even as Iga Swiatek dominated the headlines.
Swiatek experienced a significant dip in form after winning her fourth Roland Garros title. This opened the door for Aryna Sabalenka to shine. Despite skipping the Paris Olympics, Sabalenka’s impressive performances during the North American hard-court season and post-US Open helped her rise to the top of the rankings.
However, Sabalenka could not cap off her career-best season with a win at the WTA Finals in Riyadh. With that said, let’s delve into the three most notable upsets in women’s tennis in 2024.
Iga Swiatek entered Wimbledon as the player in top form. After winning her fourth Roland Garros title, many expected her to finally succeed at Wimbledon. However, her struggles in 2024 began in the third round at SW19.
World No. 35 Yulia Putintseva pulled off a stunning upset, defeating the Pole 3-6, 6-1, 6-2. Putintseva came into the tournament fresh off her win at the Rothesay Classic and extended her winning streak to eight matches while ending Swiatek’s 21-match streak. The victory marked Putintseva’s first Round of 16 appearance at Wimbledon and her first at a major since the 2020 US Open.
The loss was Swiatek’s fifth of the season and her first since being beaten by Elena Rybakina at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix. Ironically, both defeats came against players from Kazakhstan.
Putintseva’s win over Swiatek was her second career victory over a Wimbledon top seed on grass. She had previously defeated Naomi Osaka at the 2019 Birmingham tournament.
World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka entered the WTA Finals in excellent form. She had recently won the Cincinnati Open, US Open, and Wuhan Open. Sabalenka was also the winner of her group in the round-robin stage.
In the semifinals, she faced Coco Gauff. Many expected Sabalenka to defeat the 2023 US Open champion and go on to win the WTA Finals title. However, the Belarusian could not match Gauff’s level on the day.
The 20-year-old American defeated Sabalenka 7-6(4), 6-3. This marked Sabalenka’s second loss in Riyadh and made Gauff the third player since 2010 to beat both the World No. 1 and No. 2 at the WTA Finals. Earlier in the tournament, Gauff had defeated Iga Swiatek, which helped secure the year-end No. 1 ranking for Sabalenka.
With this win, Gauff became the youngest player to reach the WTA Finals championship match since Caroline Wozniacki in 2010. She was also the youngest to beat a World No. 1 at the season-ending event since Maria Sharapova defeated Lindsay Davenport in 2004.
Iga Swiatek’s early exit at Wimbledon hinted at a dip in her form, but her performance at the Paris Olympics made it undeniable. As a four-time French Open champion, she was the favorite to win Olympic gold on the same courts where she had achieved so much success.
However, Swiatek was surprisingly defeated in the semifinals by Qinwen Zheng, who went on to win the gold medal. The Pole managed to bounce back, defeating Slovakia’s Anna Karolina Schmiedlova to secure the bronze medal. While a strong recovery, it fell short of the high expectations placed on her.
Zheng delivered a dominant performance, overcoming the top seed in 1 hour and 51 minutes on Court Philippe Chatrier. This court had been the site of many of Swiatek’s greatest achievements, making the upset even more significant.
For Zheng, it was her first professional win over Swiatek in their seven matches at the tour level. Before this loss, Swiatek had won 20 consecutive clay-court matches and boasted a 38-2 record at Roland Garros, where she had claimed four French Open titles in the past five years.
/origin-imgresizer.eurosport.com/2024/12/04/image-c0151ca4-8616-4ca7-b781-87e788aea98d-85-2560-1440.jpeg "Tennis calendar 2025: Schedule for Grand Slams, top ATP and WTA tournaments")
