The tennis 2024 season has been a riveting and attention-grabbing year, both on and off the court. It witnessed a new generation of stars emerging coupled with the swan song of others. The noteworthy stories and breakthrough moments made it a season for the record books.
To mark the end of another exhilarating season, let’s take a look at the best tennis moments served in 2024. Here, we have a list of the prominent takeaways, including epic matches, comebacks, and upsets.
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Novak Djokovic may have missed out on claiming a record 25th Grand Slam trophy despite having an opportunity to do so. The Serb made the finals at Wimbledon but fell to an inspired Carlos Alcaraz for a second consecutive SW19 final.
A month later, Djokovic turned the tables on Alcaraz by defeating the young Spaniard in the finals of the Paris Olympics and bagging the coveted gold medal. The straight win over Alcaraz was payback for the three-set loss in the Wimbledon finals in early July. By going for gold in Paris, Djokovic captured the elusive title of Olympic champion. At 37, the former World No. 1 became the oldest man to win the gold medal in the Summer Games.
After the win, a tearful Djokovic, draped in the Serbian flag, called “winning the gold for Serbia the greatest achievement and highlight of his career.”
Former WTA World No. 1 and Romanian Simona Halep began her return to competitive tennis in March this year. Halep was able to resume her tennis career with immediate effect after her four-year ban for anti-doping violations was reduced to nine months on appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
Halep played the Miami Open as a wildcard, where she lost to Paula Badosa in three sets. Her most recent outing at the Hong Open WTA 250 event in October ended in a loss to Chinese woman Yue Yuan following retirement at Trophée Clarins in May and a second-round loss to Anna Blinkova in September in the Hong Kong 125 Open.
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Despite not hitting her groove this year, the Romanian has been offered a wildcard for the Australian Open, where she was to begin her 2025 campaign. Unfortunately, for the former World No. 1, she has been sidelined from the first Grand Slam of the season with persistent pain in her knee and shoulder.
The 2024 season saw the departure of Scottish tennis star Sir Andrew Barron Murray after 22 years in the sport. The Dunblane native won singles golds at London 2012 over Roger Federer in the final and at Rio 2016, making him the only singles player in history to win back-to-back Olympic titles.
Murray also claimed three Grand Slam titles, including two at Wimbledon in 2013 and 2016. His first Grand Slam title came at the 2012 US Open. The majors came in an era dominated by the ‘Big 3’ of Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic. The Scotsman also helped guide Team GB to the 2015 Davis Cup title.
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On July 6th, 2024, Andy Murray waved goodbye to the sport he loved while standing on the iconic footbridge at Wimbledon. As a tribute to the man, the Dunblane Sports Club in Scotland has immortalised Andy Murray with a 20-foot-mural.
By claiming the trophy at Roland Garros this season, Alcaraz set himself up for sporting glory. When he defended his 2023 Wimbledon crown, Alcaraz secured his place in the history books by completing the Channel Slam – winning the French Open and Wimbledon in the same calendar year.
Carlos Alcaraz is only the fourth man since 1980 to win consecutive French Open and Wimbledon titles. Only Federer, Nadal and Djokovic have accomplished the feat before him. Incidentally, the Spaniard achieved the feat with a four-set triumph over Novak Djokovic. By winning the Roland Garros trophy earlier in the month, Alcaraz completed a haul of Grand Slam titles on all three surfaces.
Eight titles and a 23-2 Grand Slam win-loss record sums up Jannik Sinner’s jackpot season. The Italian ended the year with a 73-6 win-loss record and 8-1 in finals. It was a year not many could dream about. Sinner began his season on overdrive, winning the Australian Open on debut.
After winning his first major title at the Australian Open, he went on to claim trophies at the US Open and ATP Finals, along with three at the Masters-1000 level. Sinner also ended his year as the first Italian ATP World No. 1.
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A full seven years after making her WTA main draw debut in 2017, Jasmine Paolini won the biggest title of her career – the WTA 1000 trophy in Dubai in 2024. The Italian secured a come-from-behind victory to defeat qualifier Anna Kalinskaya, 4-6, 7-5, 7-5 in the title round at Dubai. Her previous win was at the WTA 125 event in Portoroz, Slovenia in 2021.
Following her win in Dubai, Paolini rose from No. 26 to a career-high of No. 4 by the end of the season. The 28-year-old also made back-to-back finals in Roland Garros and Wimbledon, her first two appearances in Grand Slam finals.
Qinwen Zheng made history in 2024 as the first Chinese player, man or woman, to win an Olympic singles gold in tennis. Zheng overcame Donna Vekic in the women’s final soon after defeating reigning French Open champion Iga Swiatek in the semi-finals. Swiatek’s loss to Zheng in straight sets, 6-2, 7-5, was her first at Roland Garros in three years.
Zheng had arrived in Paris on a high soon after defending her title at the Palermo Ladies Open. The Chinese woman became Queen of Paris with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Vekic. The maiden appearance in a Grand Slam final in Melbourne set the ball rolling for the now World No. 5 from Hubei Province.
The 22-year-old went on to add the Pan Pacific title in October for her second WTA title of the season and reached the title round of the WTA Finals on qualifying for the first time.
Iga Swiatek pulled off a great escape against Naomi Osaka, narrowly surviving in the opening round. Swiatek pulled herself back from the brink after facing match point and a potential first-round exit in the 2024 French Open. The Pole, who has never lost in the opening round at Roland Garros, fought back to win 7-6(7-1), 1-6, 7-5.
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Swiatek ensured she would win a third successive French Open title and her fourth in five years with a straight-set trouncing of first-time finalist Jasmine Paolini, 6-2, 6-1. The victorious visit to Paris meant Swiatek became just the third woman to win three titles in a row at Roland Garros in the Open Era. She joined Monica Seles (1990-92) and Justine Henin (2005-07) to become only the second player this century to achieve the feat.
Rafael Nadal bowed out for the final time at Roland Garros, the same venue where he won 14 French Open titles. It is only a part of the legacy Nadal, the 22-time Grand Slam champion, leaves behind. The Spaniard ended his Roland Garros journey at 112-4, and no player has won the same event as many times as the Mallorcan.
Nadal returned to Paris one last time in 2024, where he lost in the opening round to Alexander Zverev, a muted ending to one of the sport’s greatest sagas. The Mallorcan officially brought the curtains down on his career in Malaga during the Davis Cup tie against the Netherlands. The Spanish great departed the stage after a loss to Botic Van De Zandschulp in the Davis Cup quarter-final tie.
Nadal was instrumental in Spain winning four Davis Cup finals, most recently in 2019. While Nadal gave it his all in his final competitive match, his 38-year-old feet fell short of delivering the win he so desperately wanted.
Three long years after Barbora Krejcikova won the French Open 2021, she bagged her second Grand Slam title in 2024 at Wimbledon. Krejcikova ensured the Venus Rosewater dish returned to Czecha by defeating Jasmine Paolini in three sets. Marketa Vondrousova had won the trophy at SW19 in 2023.
Krejcikova paid tribute to her coach and mentor, Jana Novotna, who passed away in 2017 after a battle with cancer. ‘I hope she would be proud,’ stated Krejcikova in the post-match press conference. Novotna won the title in 1998 after appearing in the championship round in 1994 and 1997. Krejcikova is the fourth woman representing the Czech Republic to win at Wimbledon.
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