It was an eventful tennis year in 2024. We saw the brilliant rise of a new number 1, the triumph of an old master at the Olympics and a German who went beyond the pain threshold. What we almost didn’t see were two doping cases.
Serial winner – Jannik Sinner the new number 1
Jannik Sinner is the 2024 Player of the Season. His winning streak at the beginning of the year at the Australian Open, when he dominated Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals, already showed the direction in which the year would go for Sinner. In the end, there were 73 wins and only six defeats. Phenomenal. Stefanos Tsitsipas was the only player outside the top 10 to beat him. When his positive doping test became public in the fall, immediately before the US Open, he moderated the critical questions with astonishing calm and won the last one major with an almost sterile-seeming dominance. The colleagues could also rely on Sinner’s secure victories in Italy’s Davis Cup title. Will things continue like this in 2025? WADA will probably decide that at the beginning of next year. But more on that in a moment.
Novak Djokovic congratulates Jannik Sinner (r.) on his victory in the semi-finals of the Australian Open.
Alexander Zverev – again only almost
Alexander Zverev has identified two big goals for his career: becoming number 1 in the world rankings and a title in one of the four Grand Slam-Win tournaments. He failed to achieve both goals again this year. Even if he gave everything for it. Sure, there were highlights in 2024 for Zverev: He won the United Cup title alongside Angelique Kerber and Laura Siegemund. And he confidently won the Masters tournaments in Rome in May and in Paris in November. However, there are bitter defeats. In the semifinals of the Australian Open against Daniil Medvedev and in the final of the French Open against Carlos Alcaraz. In addition, a new difficult opponent emerged for Zverev. The German was only able to win one of five direct duels against the American Taylor Fritz last season. Zverev played a lot in 2024 and ended up playing 90 matches. How the soon-to-be 28-year-old copes with these stresses is certainly a decisive factor for a successful year in 2025.
Alexander Zverev (l.) applauds his victorious opponent Carlos Alcaraz after the French Open final.
Power woman and stroke of fate – Aryna Sabalenka at the limit
The Belarusian has not only reached the top of the world rankings in 2024, but can also be named player of the season with a total of four tournament wins, including the Australian Open and the US Open. Her high-speed tennis is overwhelmingly powerful for many opponents. The Grand SlamSabalenka won the title dominantly and is currently the best player in the world on the hard court. She managed all of this despite a massive blow of fate. Because as Sabalenka was preparing for the Masters tournament in Miami, her ex-boyfriend took his own life in the same city at the same time. Nevertheless, she competed. Only an injury break in the summer led to a welcome break in the year. In late summer she played even stronger.
Outstanding moments – the matches of the year
Carlos Alcaraz – Jannik Sinner, final Beijing 6:7, 6:4, 7:6
Sinner and Alcaraz, the two new faces of men’s tennis, only met three times this year. Alcaraz won all of these three high-class matches. The final in Beijing, at the end of a grueling season, was a stark reminder of what fans can hope for from this rivalry in the years to come. A match that felt like it was being played at 1.3x speed. They pushed each other to fantastic performances and the best match of 2024.
Iga Swiatek – Aryna Sabalenka, final Madrid 7:5, 4:6, 7:6
Swiatek and Sabalenka were the decisive players of this tennis year 2024. In the “Caja Magica” in Madrid they played a final that will be remembered for a long time. Swiatek, the dominator on the ashes, found it extremely difficult to cope with Sabalenka’s power and precision at the heights of Madrid. She had to fend off three match points. But after more than three hours she won 9:7 in the tiebreak of the third set. Great advertisement for the sport.
Of all people – Sinner and Swiatek – positive
Jannik Sinner and Iga Swiatek – of all people, two of the biggest figureheads cast a bad light on tennis and the fight for a clean sport in 2024. In Sinner’s case, skin contact with his physiotherapist, who had previously treated himself with wound ointment, led to a positive sample. In Swiatek’s case it was a contaminated melatonin sleeping pill. Thanks to quick lawyers, both professionals were lucky enough to be able to clear their cases in time, before the public got wind of the positive tests. When the matter came out, the cake was already eaten. Jannik Sinner was acquitted, Swiatek was given a four-week ban, which she has already served. In the case of Sinner, however, WADA lodged an objection with the International Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). What remains is the uneasy feeling that top professionals are treated differently than players further down the world rankings.
Farewell – four stars are retiring from tennis
Men’s tennis has said goodbye to three great players in their sporting retirement in 2024. Dominic Thiem left the professional stage at his home tournament in Vienna, Andy Murray with a spectacular double performance at the Olympics in Paris and Rafael Nadal in front of his home crowd in Malaga at the Davis Cup finals. All three only played sporadically this season and were not particularly successful. The resignations seemed logical. Angelique Kerber was also unable to build on her previous successes during her comeback, but she did have a fantastic performance at the Olympics and almost returned from her last tournament with a medal.
Rafael Nadal said goodbye to the tennis stage at the Davis Cup final.
Novak Djokovic – Olympic victory as the final piece of the puzzle
The Serb could have emulated his decades-long competitors Andy Murray and Rafael Nadal and rode into the sunset of his career. But the ambition seems unbroken. After a slow start to the season, Djokovic fired his coach Goran Ivanisevic in the spring and then carefully chose the tournaments he wanted to play. That paid off. The Olympics became a triumph for Djokovic. First he brought Rafael Nadal his last defeat Court Philippe Chatrier in Paris, in Nadal’s living room, then he won the Olympic final with a performance that was no longer thought possible against Carlos Alcaraz, who was in top form. It was the one title that Djokovic was still missing from his collection. Since this triumph, Djokovic has rarely been seen on the court. But it doesn’t seem to be over yet. He surprisingly hired Andy Murray for the Australian Open. Djokovic will also make headlines in 2025.