The year 2024 was a very remarkable for tennis fans and enthusiasts across the world especially as it was an Olympic year.
That meant a whole of pride and glory was at stake and Afrosport takes a looks at 10 of the best moments that shaped the year.
Djokovic wins Olympic gold medal
Novak Djokovic has stood above every tennis player in the open era by being the only one to win every Grand Slam, Masters 1000 and ATP Finals.
The only thing missing was an Olympic gold medal which has eluded him since 2008 in Beijing when he won the bronze medal.
He was clearly out to make it happen on the clay courts of Roland Garros and succeeded by defeating Carlos Alcaraz in straight sets in the Paris 2024 Olympics tennis singles final.
Djokovic can now retire at any point of his illustrious career knowing that it will take while before such a feat can be broken.
Nadal calls it a day on his career
A then 19-year Rafael Nadal was destined for greatness when he defeated Roger Federer in the semi-finals of the 2005 French Open, going on to win the competition by getting the better of Mariano Puerta in the final.
What followed was 22 more Grand Slams, 14 of which are the French Open which cemented this legacy as a clay court specialist.
Nadal also showed prowess of other courts winning the other Grand Slams at least twice. He has 92 ATP titles including 36 Masters 1000, a figure only matched by Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer, the trio commonly know as the “big three”
Indeed, Nadal’s presence on the tennis court was one of grace, class and poise, added to his tenacity. Only few could match up to his brilliance but as he got older so dog his fitness and physicality.
A series of injuries in the last couple of years meant he could not compete as he would have liked and ultimately called time on his career this year, making his final appearance at the Davis Cup Finals in Malaga.
Sabalenka goes up to a notch
After winning her first Grand Slam title at the Australian Open in 2023, Aryna Sabalenka took it up a notch in 2024.
She added another Aussie Open title along with a first US Open title. These along with WTA 1000 wins in Cincinnati and Wuhan as well as runner-up finishes in Rome and Madrid were able see her finish the year as world number one.
Sabalenka ultimately ended the year as the WTA Player of the Year.
Sinner the untouchable
A star was born in Jannik Sinner when he defeated Alex de Minaur to win the 2019 Next Gen ATP Finals.
He steadily began to climb up the rankings and landed his first Grand Slam title at the 2024 Australian Open and added a second at the US Open. He also won ATP 1000 series in Miami, Cincinnati, Shanghai and the ATP Finals in Torino.
This ensured Sinner ended the year as world number one and was awarded with the ATP Player of the Year and ATP Fans’ Favourite Player.
Gauff ends 2024 on a high
Coco Gauff was not able to have the effect in 2023 when she won her maiden Grand Slam title at the US Open.
Indeed, she failed to reach a major final in 2024 with the closest being semi-final finishes at the Australian Open and French Open.
Regardless, she was still able to win the WTA 1000 event in Beijing and the season-ending WTA Finals in Riyadh.
Zheng wins olympic gold for china
China is not a country that dominates in tennis even though there have been notable names like Li na who is a two-time Grand Slam champion and one-time WTA Finals champion.
Qinwen Zheng is another emerging Chinese talent who started 2024 on a high by reaching the Australian Open final. She then took it up a notch by winning gold at the Olympics, becoming the first tennis player from Asia male or female to do so.
Zheng also reached the WTA Finals in Riyadh and ended the year in a career-high fifth in the WTA Rankings.
Thiem calls time on the 13-year career
Aside from Nadal, another notable tennis player to retire in 2024 was Dominic Thiem.
The highlight of the 31-year-old was when he came from two sets down to defeat Alexander Zverev in the 2020 US final, making him the first Austrian player to win at Flushing Meadows and the first player born in the 1990s to win a tennis major.
Thiem reached the final of the 2020 Australian Open as well the 2018 and 2019 French Open. He also finished runner-up at the ATP Final in 2019 and 2020.
Overall, he won a total of 17 career titles and reached a career-high third in the ATP Rankings.
Medvedev ends 2024 trophyless
Danil Medvedev became a force to reckon with when he first won the 2020 ATP Finals before going on to reach the 2021 Australian Open final and defeating Novak Djokovic to win the 2021 US Open.
His rise was fast and soon jumped to world number one at the end of February 2022.
Medvedev continued to main that standard by reaching more Grand Slam finals particularly in Melbourne while picking up some ATP titles along the way.
The year 2024 was however not a good one for the Russian as he only managed to reach the Australian Open final and Indian Wells final losing to Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz respectively.
It marked the first time since 2017 that Medvedev went a whole season without winning a title.
Paolini makes massive leap
2024 was an immense year of transformation for Jasmine Paolini.
The Italian had never gone beyond the second round of any Grand Slam before this year but had a massive leap by reaching the final of the French Open and US Open.
She also won the WTA 1000 Dubai open and was able to reach a career high fourth in the WTA rankings, the joint-highest by an Italian women’s singles player with Francesca Schiavone.
On the doubles side, Paolini was also dominant, reaching the French Open final and winning the WTA 1000 event in Rome and Beijing as well as gold at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
Fils breaks into the top 20
Arthur Fils had a 2024 to remember with a magical jump in the ATP Rankings.
The 20-year-old Frenchman was able to add two career titles to his name by winning the ATP 500 events in Hamburg and Tokyo.
This catapulted Fils into the top 20 of the men’s rankings which he achieved in July after winning in Hamburg.
He will now be looking towards going further up the rankings in 2025.
