2024 Year in Sports, Tennis: Sinner’s extraordinary season, Djokovic completes Golden Slam, Nadal and other stars bid farewell
2024 Year in Sports, Tennis: Sinner’s extraordinary season, Djokovic completes Golden Slam, Nadal and other stars bid farewell
From the coronation of new Grand Slam champions to a living legend achieving sporting immortality, the 2024 tennis season had it all.
It was a year in which a lot of exciting and talented youngsters burst on to the scene while some all-time greats bid farewell to the sport and their fans.
And just like any other season, this one too had its fair share of controversies.
Here’s a recap of the biggest highlights from tennis in 2024:
Germany beat Poland 2-1 in a nail-biting Poland Cup final in Sydney. After Iga Swiatek swept past Angelique Kerber 6-3, 6-0, Alexander Zverev brought his side back from the brink of defeat as he saved two match points in a gruelling 6-7(3), 7-6(6), 6-4 win over Hubert Hurkacz. Zverev returned to partner Laura Siegemund and sealed the title with a 6-4, 5-7, [10-4] win over Swiatek and Hurkacz in the deciding mixed doubles.
Major winners Rafael Nadal, Naomi Osaka and Marin Cilic returned to professional tennis after a long time.
Five months after giving birth to daughter Shai, four-time Grand Slam champion Osaka made her comeback with a 6-3, 7-6(9) win over Tamara Korpatsch at Brisbane International.
Nadal, a 22-time Major winner, had not played since sustaining a hip injury during his second-round loss at the Australian Open in 2023. A day after partnering compatriot Marc Lopez in a doubles tie, the Spaniard registered a 7-5, 6-1 victory over Dominic Thiem on his singles comeback in Brisbane.
However, former US Open champion Cilic squandered nine match points on his return after an injury-ravaged year and lost a thriller to Jan-Lennard Struff 3-6, 7-6(4), 7-6(7) at the Hong Kong Open.
Aryna Sabalenka defender her title in Melbourne with ease. The Belarusian did not drop a set throughout the tournament. She defeated China’s Zheng Qinwen 6-3, 6-2 in the final to become the first woman to retain the Melbourne Park crown since compatriot Victoria Azarenka in 2013.
Jannik Sinner clinched his maiden Major title with a come-from-behind 3-6, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-3 victory over Russia’s Daniil Medvedev in the summit clash, becoming the first Italian man in the Open Era to win a Grand Slam. Earlier, in the semifinal, Sinner had taken down 10-time Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic 6-1, 6-2, 6-7(6), 6-3.
India’s Rohan Bopanna proved that age is just a number as the then 43-year-old and his Australian partner Matthew Ebden defeated Italy’s Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori 7-6(0), 7-5 in the men’s doubles final in Melbourne.
Bopanna became the oldest man to lift a Grand Slam trophy in the Open Era. The triumph also helped the Indian climb to the top of the ATP men’s doubles rankings.
Indian Davis Cup team capped its historic visit to Pakistan after 60 years by sealing its place in World Group I as it blanked the host 4-0 on grass in Islamabad. It was India’s eighth win in as many meetings in the event.
Ranked 121 at the start of the Chennai Open ATP Challenger, India’s Sumit Nagal went all the way to guarantee himself Top 100 debut in the ATP Rankings. Nagal became the first Indian since Prajnesh Gunneswaran in 2019 to break the Top 100 barrier as he defeated Italy’s Luca Nardi 6-1, 6-4 in the final for his fifth title on the ATP Challenger Tour.
The first major milestone of Jasmine Paolini’s breakout season was the Italian’s triumph at Dubai Championships. Ranked 26th, Paolini defeated Russia’s Anna Kalinskaya 4-6, 7-5, 7-5 in the final to clinch her maiden title at the WTA 1000 level.
Russia’s Andrey Rublev was defaulted from the Dubai Championships for allegedly using obscene language in an angry tirade at a line umpire. Taking on Kazakhstan’s Alexander Bublik, Rublev lost his cool at 7-6(4), 6-7(5), 5-6 and yelled towards the official, who claimed the second seed swore at him in Russian.
Later, after an appeal to ATP, Rublev managed to retain the ranking points and prize money earned, despite getting defaulted from the tournament for unsportsmanlike conduct.
Former Wimbledon and French Open champion after a successful appeal in the Court of Arbitration for Sport. It made her eligible to return to competition immediately.
The Romanian was suspended in October 2022 after testing positive for roxadustat – a banned drug that stimulates the production of red blood cells. She was also charged with another doping offence in 2023 due to irregularities in her athlete biological passport (ABP). Halep had blamed contaminated supplements for her positive test.
Nadal withdrew from Indian Wells Masters on the eve of his first-round match which allowed Nagal, a lucky loser, to take his spot. However, the Indian went down in straight sets to Canada’s Milos Raonic.
Five-time champion and the then World No. 1 Djokovic crashed out of Indian Wells Masters after a shocking loss to Nardi, a lucky loser, in the third round. Nardi defeated Djokovic 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 in two hours and 20 minutes for the biggest win of his career.
In a bizarre turn of events, the quarterfinal between Zverev and defending champion Carlos Alcaraz at Indian Wells had to be suspended at 1-1 in the opening set due to a swarm of bees.
Dozens of bees attached themselves to the overhead spider camera that traverses the court. A man without any protective covering used a vacuum to clean them off. After a nearly two-hour delay, the match resumed and Alcaraz won 6-3, 6-1. The Spaniard went on to defeat Sinner, ending the Italian’s winning start to the season, in the semifinals before taking down Medvedev 7-6(5), 6-1 in the summit clash to defend his title.
Just before the start of the clay season, Djokovic announced that his highly successful partnership with Croatian coach Goran Ivanisevic had ended. Ivanisevic had joined Djokovic’s team in 2019 and helped the Serbian win nine Grand Slam titles.
WTA announced that Saudi Arabia’s capital Riyadh will host the season-ending WTA Finals till 2026. Saudi Arabia has invested heavily in sports like football, Formula One and golf in the last few years, while critics accuse the kingdom of using its Public Investment Fund to “sportswash” its human rights record. The country denies accusations of human rights abuses and says it protects its national security through its laws.
On April 7, as the age of 36 years and 321 days, Djokovic officially became the oldest World No. 1 in ATP Rankings history. The record was previously held by one of his greatest rivals in Roger Federer.
After withdrawing from Monte Carlo, Nadal, one of the greatest clay court players of all time, began his final season on the dirt in Barcelona. The 12-time champion defeated Italy’s Flavio Cobolli 6-2, 6-3 on a court named after the Spaniard himself. Nadal crashed out in second round after loss to Alex De Minaur of Australia.
Spain’s former world number 1 and Wimbledon and French Open champion Garbine Muguruza announced her retirement at a news conference, making the extended break she had announced in 2023 a permanent step. “I didn’t miss the discipline and the difficulty of the life I had before. I have been realizing that what I most want to look forward to is my next chapter and not the tennis chapter,” she said at a news conference in Madrid.
Nadal fell 7-5, 6-4 to Czech Jiri Lehecka in the fourth round of the Madrid Open, marking his final appearance at a tournament he had won five times.
In a repeat of last year’s summit clash, Swiatek took on Sabalenka in the Madrid Open final. However, the Pole managed to be on the right side of the result this time as she edged the Belarusian 7-5, 4-6, 7-6(7) in a gripping and gruelling match. Swiatek saving three championship points to secure her 20th career title.
Djokovic accidentally got knocked on the head by a water bottle after his 6-3, 6-1 win over French qualifier Corentin Moutet in the first round of the Italian Open in Rome. A man was leaning over the railing to hand Djokovic a notebook for a signature and an aluminum-type water bottle fell out of his backpack and hit the Serbian on the top of his head.
Fourteen-time Roland Garros champion Nadal lost 6-3, 7-6(5), 6-3 to fourth-seeded Zverev in the first round. It was his earliest exit at the clay Major. The Spaniard’s French Open win-loss record is 112-4.
Defending champion Swiatek saved a match point to outlast Osaka 7-6(1), 1-6, 7-5 in a breathtaking second-round clash at the French Open. Swiatek trailed 5-2 in the final set but the Pole won the last five games of the match.
Djokovic broke Federer’s all-time record of most number of wins at Slams during the French Open. The Serbian defeated Argentina’s Francisco Cerundolo 6-1, 5-7, 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 to register his 370th victory at Majors. Djokovic also surpassed Federer’s record of 58 quarterfinal appearances.
However, Djokovic had sustained a knee injury during his win over Cerundolo which forced him to withdraw from the tournament.
Zverev agreed to a settlement after the mother of his child accused him of physical abuse and a German court closed the case. The agreement, according to German media, included a monetary condition of 200,000 euros (USD 217,820), with the player not found guilty of any wrongdoing.
The decision came hours before Zverev beat Casper Ruud in the French Open semifinals.
Swiatek overcame an early wobble to beat first-time Major finalist Paolini 6-2, 6-1 at Roland Garros. The Pole became only the third woman in the Open era to clinch three straight French Open titles. Despite the defeat, Paolini guaranteed herself Top 10 debut in the WTA Rankings.
Alcaraz outlasted Zverev to become the youngest man to capture Grand Slam titles on all three surfaces with a 6-3, 2-6, 5-7, 6-1, 6-2 victory in a thrilling men’s final.
Sinner officially became the first Italian man to become World No. 1 when the ATP Rankings were released after the French Open.
Sinner had lost to eventual champion Alcaraz in the French Open semifinals but the result was good enough to overtake Djokovic.
Two-time Wimbledon singles champion Andy Murray and his brother Jamie lost 7-6(6), 6-4 to Australia’s Rinky Hijikata and John Peers in the men’s doubles opening round. It turned out to be Murray’s final match at the grass Major.
He was forced to withdraw from the singles competition as he was still recovering from a surgery done to remove a cyst from his spinal cord.
Later, Emma Raducanu, his mixed doubles partner, pulled out due to stiffness in her wrist.
“I want to play forever, I love the sport and it’s given me so much. It’s taught me loads of lessons over the years I can use for the rest of my life. I don’t want to stop so it is hard,” said Murray in his speech after the men’s doubles loss.
In the women’s final, Barbora Krejcikova defeated Paolini 6-2, 2-6, 6-4 at the same Centre Court where her late mentor Jana Novotna hoisted the Venus Rosewater Dish 26 summers ago.
Alcaraz played celestial tennis to vanquish Djokovic 6-2, 6-2, 7-6(4) for a second straight time in the Wimbledon men’s final. Djokovic was playing just five weeks after a surgery to repair a torn meniscus.
Indian tennis stars Leander Paes and Vijay Amritraj were formally inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame as its 265th and 267th members. Joining them was veteran tennis journalist Richard Evans, a chronicler of 200 Majors, and the biographer of Amritraj.
Djokovic easily defeated Nadal in the second round at Paris Olympics, the last professional battle between two legends of the sport.
Nadal, who was one of the sporting icons to carry the Olympic flame during the opening ceremony, went down 6-1, 6-4 to his Serbian rival on Court Philippe Chatrier.
Former World No. 1 Angelique Kerber, silver medallist at 2016 Rio Games, lost 6-7(4), 6-4, 7-6(6) to Zheng Qinwen in the quarterfinals. “What can I say? I gave everything. I have loved playing tennis. Now I can leave in peace,” said Kerber after the defeat as she had already announced that it was going to be the last tournament of her career.
Murray retired from professional tennis as he and Daniel Evans went down 6-2, 6-4 to Americans Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul in the men’s doubles quarterfinals. After withdrawing from singles, Murray had won two rounds of the doubles with Evans, saving multiple match points in each.
“I’m glad I got to go out here at the Olympics and finish on my terms because at times in the last few years that wasn’t a certainty,” said Murray.
The Spanish dream team of Nadal and Alcaraz also fell short of a podium-finish, losing to Americans Rajeev Ram and Austin Krajicek 6-2, 6-4 in the quarterfinals.
Djokovic found the final piece of the puzzle to make his career one for the ages as he took down Alcaraz 7-6(3), 7-6(2) in the men’s singles final at Paris Olympics.
With the gold medal, Djokovic became the fifth player after Steffi Graf, Andre Agassi, Serena Williams and Nadal to complete the Career Golden Slam (All four Slams + Olympic Singles Gold).
Zheng Qinwen became the first Chinese player to win an Olympic tennis singles gold medal when she beat Croatia’s Donna Vekic 6-2, 6-3 in a tense women’s final.
The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) announced on August 20 that Sinner had tested positive twice for a banned anabolic steroid in March and was stripped of prize money and points earned at a tournament in Indian Wells, California, but will not be suspended because an independent tribunal said it was not intentional.
Alcaraz and Djokovic both had early exits from US Open, the final Major of the year.
Alcaraz, the 2022 champion, was beaten 6-1, 7-5, 6-4 by unseeded Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp in the second round.
Djokovic lost 6-4, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 to Australia’s Alexei Popyrin in the third round, ending his bid for a 25th Grand Slam title.
A year after finishing runner-up to Coco Gauff, Sabalenka was able to leave Arthur Ashe Stadium in a far better mood as the Belarusian defeated Jessica Pegula, another America, 7-5, 7-5 to win her first championship at Flushing Meadows and third Grand Slam title of her career.
Sinner produced a brutal display of baseline power as he became the first Italian man to win the US Open with a 6-3, 6-4, 7-5 triumph over American Taylor Fritz in the men’s final.
India went down 4-0 to Sweden fashion in embarrassing fashion in a Davis Cup World Group I tie on indoor hard courts of the Royal Tennis Hall in Stockholm. India did not even manage to win a set in any of the rubbers.
Sweden had also won all the previous five ties between the two countries.
Team World’s hopes of completing a hat-trick of Laver Cup titles were dashed as Alcaraz overcame Fritz 6-2, 7-5 to lead Team Europe to a 13-11 win in Berlin.
This was the final edition with Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe as captains of Team Europe and Team World, respectively.
From the 2025 edition, Yannick Noah will lead Team Europe while Andre Agassi will be Team World’s skipper.
Former India No. 1 Somdev Devvarman and doubles player Purav Raja filed a petition at the Delhi High Court, accusing the All India Tennis Association (AITA) of allegedly violating the Sports Code.
World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) confirmed that it had lodged an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport on September 26 in the case of Sinner.
A WADA statement read, “It is WADA’s view that the finding of “no fault or negligence” was not correct under the applicable rules. WADA is seeking a period of ineligibility of between one and two years. WADA is not seeking a disqualification of any results, save that which has already been imposed by the tribunal of first instance.”
In a video message on October 10, Nadal announced that he would retire after competing in the Davis Cup finals in Malaga in November.
In the WTA Rankings released on October 21, Sabalenka leapfrogged Swiatek to return to the top spot. Players are mandated to compete in six WTA 500 events but Swiatek did not play during the tour’s Asian swing. She played in only two WTA 500 events this season.
The penalties saw her drop below Sabalenka in the rankings.
Former US Open champion Thiem played his last professional match, losing 7-6(6), 6-2 to Luciano Darderi in the first round at the Vienna Open. The 31-year-old Austrian had been struggling to return to his top form following a wrist injury.
Gauff beat Olympic gold medallist Zheng 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(2) in a three-hour battle in Riyadh to become the youngest player to win the WTA Finals since Maria Sharapova in 2004 and the first American champion since Serena Williams 10 years ago.
Sinner’s glorious season continued as he defeated Fritz 6-4, 6-4 in Turin to become the first-ever Italian champion at the season-ending event. It was his eighth trophy of the year.
Nadal’s legendary career ended with Spain’s quarterfinal defeat against Netherlands at the Davis Cup Finals in Malaga. Nadal lost the opening singles 6-4, 6-4 to Van De Zandschulp. Alcaraz brought his team back into the tie with a 7-6(0), 6-3 victory over Tallon Griekspoor. However, Alcaraz and Marcel Granollers went down 7-6(4), 7-6(3) to Van De Zandschulp and Wesley Koolhof in the deciding doubles.
“I leave with the peace of mind that I have left a legacy, which I really feel is not just a sporting one but a personal one,” said
Paolini steered Italy to a fifth Billie Jean King Cup title as she beat Rebecca Sramkova 6-2, 6-1 in the second singles rubber to wrap up a 2-0 win over Slovakia in the final. Lucia Bronzetti had defeated Viktoria Hruncakova 6-2, 6-4 in the opening match.
Sinner clinched Italy’s second consecutive Davis Cup title and capped his breakthrough season at the top of tennis by beating Griekspoor 7-6(2), 6-2 for a 2-0 win over the Netherlands in the final. Matteo Berrettini had put Italy ahead with a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Van De Zandschulp in the opening singles.
In what came as a major surprise, Djokovic on November 23 announced that Murray will be his new coach till the Australian Open in 2025.
“I am excited to have one of my greatest rivals on the same side of the net as my coach,” Djokovic said.
Former football star Diego Forlan made his professional tennis debut during an ATP Challenger Tour event in Montevideo. Forlan, the 45-year-old Uruguayan, and Federico Coria of Argentina lost 6-1, 6-2 to Boris Arias and Federico Zeballos in the first round.
Forlán was the 2010 FIFA World Cup’s best player and joint highest scorer; and netted twice in the 2011 Copa America final to help Uruguay win its first continental trophy in 16 years. He retired from football in 2019.
The ITIA on November 28 announced that Swiatek had after testing positive for the banned substance trimetazidine, a heart medication known as TMZ.
Former US Open champion Juan Martin del Potro bid farewell after beating Novak Djokovic 6-4, 7-5 in an emotional exhibition match in front of his home crowd in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Australian Davis Cup champion Neale Fraser, who won the Davis Cup four times and is the last man to win a triple crown — singles, doubles and mixed doubles titles at a Grand Slam — passed away aged 91.
Brazil’s Joao Fonseca topped USA’s Learner Tien 2-4, 4-3(8), 4-0, 4-2 to clinch the title at the Next Gen ATP Finals in Jeddah.
Fonseca, the 18-year-old Brazilian, became the second-youngest ever champion in the event held for Top 8 under-20 players at the end of the season.
Fonseca remained undefeated across his five matches in the tournament.
