Which men’s 2024 Grand Slam had the best story?
One thing about tennis is that there is precious little time to sit and reflect. No sooner are the ATP Finals done that the build-up starts towards another fresh Grand Slam cycle at the Australian Open.
That’s the stage we are at right now, and 2024 was certainly an interesting season. Rafael Nadal came back and retired. Novak Djokovic stepped away, and Jannik Sinner stepped up. Carlos Alcaraz managed to look both next level and completely stagnant. Daniil Medvedev chilled out, but perhaps not in a great way for his game. Alexander Zverev looked closer than ever to a maiden major, but still not as close as he probably should be with his talent.
They were just a few of the narratives on the ATP Tour in 2024, but a season is probably defined ultimately by the Grand Slams and, for me at least, I don’t think it was a vintage collection by any means.
Australian Open
Final: Jannik Sinner d Daniil Medvedev 3-6, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-3
Semi-finalists: Novak Djokovic, Alexander Zverev
Quarterfinalists: Taylor Fritz, Andrey Rublev, Hubert Hurkacz, Carlos Alcaraz
Story: Jannik Sinner breakthrough
I always think the Australian Open gets the short straw a little when it comes to the majors. It’s a hardcourt major, but probably not the hardcourt major. It’s right at the start of the year when injuries can be a major issue and the final week can get devoid of star power sometimes as a result.
It’s difficult for television scheduling and the climate can very easily become a side story. It actually feels more like the scene-setter for the ATP Tour, the prelude, rather than a central piece of it.
That said, it has plenty going for it as well. I always love how it feels like a level playing field, perhaps more than any other major. Hard is the surface most players are most comfortable on, and no one has had any chance at all to play themselves into form or any rhythm.
I actually though the Australian Open was a quality affair this year too. Perhaps, actually, the best Grand Slam of the year.
Granted, at the start it felt like it was going to be a bit of a damp squib early on. It had been billed as Rafael Nadal’s great comeback after injury, but he withdrew before it started. It then kind of felt like just waiting for Novak Djokovic to win again, but it became something bigger when he lost in the semi-final to Jannik Sinner.
Sinner was playing some brilliant tennis, but someone looking in fine form in Australia and primed for a breakthrough, only to run into an immovable Djokovic and be soundly beaten is hardly anything new. Most of us probably expected just another repeat.
However, Sinner was dominant in the match, winning it in four sets. He then faced Daniil Medvedev in the final and came back from two sets down to win it in five. In doing so, he confirmed he was no longer one for the future, but a serious player in the here and now, and he just kept proving it every week for the rest of the season.
Whenever tennis gets a new star, there is always a moment that they arrive. It’s always at a Grand Slam too. The 2024 Australian Open was Sinner’s, and as such will likely now always be a special one for the history books.
French Open
Final: Carlos Alcaraz d Alexander Zverev 6-3, 2-6, 5-7, 6-1, 6-2
Semi-finalists: Casper Ruud, Jannik Sinner
Quarterfinalists: Novak Djokovic, Alex de Minaur, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Grigor Dimitrov
Story: Alexander Zverev failing to take his chance
Time was that the French Open was the most processional tournament on the entire ATP Tour. You tuned in on day one, and essentially spent two weeks waiting for Rafael Nadal to win, which he of course did.
Nadal finally succumbing to his battered body both liberated Roland Garros and engulfed it in some sadness. You felt great that you may be about to watch a genuinely unpredictable French Open, but couldn’t help but feel for the fallen warrior.
That sadness was certainly felt when Nadal, unseeded and entering with protected ranking, was drawn against Alexander Zverev in the first round. The Spaniard was easily overpowered, and it felt a little like the stars aligning for Zverev given he himself was relatively back from serious injury – sustained at Roland Garros against Nadal.
The French Open was never going to be about a Nadal fairy tale, even if we wanted to believe it could be. It could, and perhaps should, have been about Alexander Zverev though. The German has been touted as a future Grand Slam winner since his teens, but it’s never happened for him.
This year, though, he was looking in imperious form, had destroyed the kind of clay in round one, and when Novak Djokovic withdrew ahead of the quarterfinals with injury, it felt like Zverev’s time.
When he went 2-1 up in the final against Carlos Alcaraz, it looked for all the world he would convert. The fact he had previously let a 2-0 lead in a Grand Slam final slip only served to make you back him more.
However, he won just three games in the final two sets and missed an incredible opportunity. Alcaraz became an all-surface Grand Slam champion instead, and it can’t be underestimated how important it was to get the Roland Garros monkey off his back for someone who has long been hailed as the successor to Rafael Nadal.
Wimbledon
Final: Carlos Alcaraz d Novak Djokovic 6-2, 6-2, 7-6
Semi-finalists: Daniil Medvedev, Lorenzo Musetti
Quarterfinalists: Jannik Sinner, Tommy Paul, Taylor Fritz, Alex de Minaur
Story: Novak Djokovic dominated
In many ways, Wimbledon followed the pattern of the other two majors before it this year in that it was billed as a chance to say goodbye to a legend, but it never really happened. This time it wasn’t Rafael Nadal though, it was Andy Murray.
Murray made it clear that this Wimbledon would be his last. It was too, but he had to bow out on the doubles court rather than the singles due to a back injury.
With no Murray to watch, the narrative became whether Carlos Alcaraz could defend his title or whether Novak Djokovic could regain his. Before last year, Djokovic had been practically unbeatable on Centre Court, winning four straight titles. Alcaraz, though, bested him in a brilliant final.
From quite early, it appeared we were on course for a rematch in the final, even more so when Medvedev surprised Sinner in the last eight.
While many were expecting a big response from Djokovic though, it went the other way. No one would have been surprised to see Alcaraz win it, but his total dominance was a huge shock. No one actually knew it was possible to do that to Djokovic at Wimbledon. Literally the greatest of all time had tried, and he always had a say.
Wimbledon 2024 was also significant for what felt like a real Grand Slam breakthrough for Lorenzo Musetti. The Italian’s talent has never been in doubt, but his ability to string wins together has been. He was scintillating in SW19, though, eventually losing to Djokovic in the semi-finals. Musetti will be a very interesting player to watch in 2025 though.
US Open
Final: Jannik Sinner d Taylor Fritz 6-3, 6-4, 7-5
Semi-finalists: Jack Draper, Frances Tiafoe
Quarterfinalists: Daniil Medvedev, Alex de Minaur, Alexander Zverev, Grigor Dimitrov
Story: Fritz delivers for America
If you grew up in the 1980s and 1990s, you would have grown very accustomed to American men dominating men’s tennis. Since Andy Roddick, though, it’s fair to say that US men’s tennis has struggled.
This year was the year that all changed, though. Taylor Fritz ended the year ranked number four in the world and deservedly so. In August, he had the chance to put his name down in New York legend when he reached the final of the US Open.
He actually also beat compatriot Frances Tiafoe in the semis, so Court Arthur Ashe played host to some serious partisan home men’s tennis for the first time in what many would say was far too long.
Fritz couldn’t get the job done, though. In fact, he was very easily beaten by Sinner, who romped to a straight sets win to claim a second major of the year.
British tennis also received a big shot in the arm in New York too. With Andy Murray just retired, Jack Draper underlined his status as the heir apparent by reaching the US Open semi-final. Like Fritz, he found Sinner far too strong, but it bodes well for the future.
Was 2024 a good year for men’s Grand Slam tennis?
In all honesty, you’d probably have to say it wasn’t a classic year, no. There were plenty of stories and sub-plots, but a lot of the narrative around Grand Slams this year was about former greats bowing out rather than the new starts making their name.
That’s aa shame in many ways, as Sinner announced himself in brilliant style, Draper, Fritz, and Musetti made big impressions, and Carlos Alcaraz cemented his growing legacy.
It all just underlines what a transitional stage the ATP Tour is in at the moment, though. 2024 was the year Nadal and Murray joined Federer in hanging up their rackets, and Djokovic took a significant step back from the tour. We’re they honoured and missed more than the new stars were celebrated? Probably.
That transition always had to happen, though, and perhaps 2025 will be all the more exciting for it.
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