Tuesday, 24 December 2024

2024 Next Generation ATP Finals

The 2024 ATP tour conclusion in Saudi Arabia.

2024 Next Generation ATP Finals, an exhibition tournament for highest ranked young players, on Hard Indoor, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, 18-22 December 2024.

2023 champion: (unable to defend because of age)
Hamad Medjedovic who defeated Arthur Fils 3-4(6-8) 4-1 4-2 3-4(9-11) 4-1

The field consists of the 8 highest ranked singles players on the ATP Tour aged 20 or under.
Qualified players are split into two groups of four and participate in a round robin event.
Each player meets the other three players in her group with the winner and runner-up in each group advancing to the semi finals.
1st in one group plays 2nd in other group.
The semi final winners meet in the championship match.

This year’s field (seedings in brackets):

Blue Group

Arthur Fils (1)
Jakub Mensik (3)
Learner Tien (5)
Joao Fonseca (8)

Red Group 

Alex Michelsen (2)
Shang Juncheng (4)
Luca Van Assche (6)
Nishesh Basavareddy (7)

Semi final results:

Joao Fonseca (8);defeated Luca Van Assche 4-2 4-2 4-1
Learner Tien (5) defeated Alex Michelsen (2) 2-4 4-2 1-4 4-0 4-1

Final:

Joao Fonseca (8) defeated Learner Tien (5) 2-4 4-3(10-8) 4-0 4-2

Monday, 9 December 2024

ATP Tour - 2024 Review

The 2024 ATP season began with the top 10 as follows:

  1. Novak Djokovic 
  2. Carlos Alcaraz
  3. Daniil Medvedev 
  4. Jannik Sinner 
  5. Andrey Rublev 
  6. Stefanos Tsitsipas 
  7. Alexander Zverev 
  8. Holger Rune
  9. Hubert Hurkacz 
  10. Taylor Fritz 

The year began with Germany winning the United Cup held in Australia.

While the teams event was happening, Andrey Rublev was winning in Hong Kong and Grigor Dimitrov in Brisbane.


A week later, the Adelaide international was taken out by Jiri Lehecka, and Alejandro Tabilo won the Auckland Open.

All this a prelude to the Australian Open.

Melbourne Park was the setting for a dethroning.


Djokovic was back, defending his title, intent on taking home an eleventh AO. 

However, it was Jannik Sinner who prevented this, playing Batman to the Joker, ousting him in the semis.

Sinner won his first major, coming from two sets down to defeat Daniil Medvedev in the final.


January finished with 12 nations winning through the Davis Cup qualifiers and Alexander Bublik winning a tournament in Montpellier, France.


February began with American Tommy Paul winning his second career title in Dallas.

Frenchman Ugo Humbert also won on his home nation’s soil, taking out the title in Marseille.

Italian Luciano Darderi won his first ATP Tour title in Córdoba, Argentina, and Jannik Sinner rode his Melbourne momentum by picking up the Rotterdam Open.

Taylor Fritz won in Delray Beach, Argentine Facundo Diaz Acosta won his first ATP Tour title, the Argentina Open.

Fellow Argentine Sebastian Baez won the Rio Open, Karen Khachanov the Qatar Open, and Aussie Jordan Thompson his first ATP Tour title in Los Cabos.

Alex de Minaur was successful in Mexico, while Humbert and Baez both won their second titles for the month, in Dubai and Chile respectively.


March was time for the US to take centre stage.and claim to host the biggest tournaments outside of the majors.

Indian Wells was won by Carlos Alcaraz, who diluted the 2024 joy of Jannik Sinner in the semis, and knocked out Daniil Medvedev in the final.

Sinner was joyful soon enough, with victory in the Miami Open, Grigor Dimitrov a beaten but impressive finalist.


Clay courts and April coincided and two Americans met in the final to decide the US Clay Court Champion. The Houston crowd cheered Ben Shelton as he overcame Frances Tiafoe.

Hubert Hurkacz and Matteo Berrettini won titles in Portugal and Morocco before the first clay court Masters 1000 tournament for 2024 arrived in Monte Carlo.


Stefanos Tsitsipas, 12th seed, gave Sinner marching orders in the semis, before cleaning up Casper Ruud in the final. Ruud had just had his first ever victory over Djokovic in his semi.


Ruud exacted revenge on Tsitsipas immediately in the Barcelona final, the same week Marton Fucsovics won in Romania, and Jan-Lennard Struff in his home nation in Munich.

Andrey Rublev rounded out the month by winning a second Masters 1000 title, this time in Madrid. Felix Auger-Aliassime lost the final, his first at that high level.


May opened with the Italian Ooen - another Masters 1000 event, and decided in favour of Alexander Zverev.

It was his second win in Rome, the first way back in 2017, where he beat Djokovic in the final. This year it was Chilean Nicolas Jarry the losing finalist. Jarry previously had never featured in a final above ATP 250 level.


The week before Roland Garros, Casper Ruud won in Geneva, and first time ATP Tour finalist Frenchman Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard won the Lyon Open final against Argentina’s Tomas Martin Etcheverry.


Form was a factor at Roland Garros, with Casper Rudd making the semis, and Stefanos Tsitsipas the quarters.

Jannik Sinner continued a strong year at the big tournaments by reaching the semis, but it was Carlos Alcaraz who would take the trophy.

Alexander Zverev’s Rome form followed him into the final where he led two sets to one, but was swamped thereafter.


June and grass, a surface bringing delight to a certain core group of players and turning smiles to frowns for many averse to the turf.

Young Brit Jack Draper tasted success by winning the Stuttgart tournament - his first ATP Tour title.

Alexander de Minaur won in the Netherlands and Jannik Sinner in Germany.

Alejandro Tabilo victorious in Mallorca and Taylor Fritz similarly in Eastbourne.


Then came Wimbledon.

Quarter finalists Sinner, Fritz, de Minaur and Paul didn’t cause shock waves with their performances, nor Medvedev in making a semi.

Lorenzo Musetti did though, by also reaching a semi.

Djokovic had his Aus Open run halted by Sinner, and his Wimbledon stretch was ended in the final by Carlos Alcaraz for the second year running.

Alcaraz became the youngest player to win Roland Garros and Wimbledon in the same year.


Post Wimbledon just one more grass court tournament - in Newport Marcos Giron won his first ATP Tour title, beating fellow American Alex Michelsen in the final.

On clay, Arthur Fils won in Hamburg and Nuno Borges won his first ATP Tour title in Sweden, only the fifth player to beat Nadal in a clay court final.

Matteo Berrettini won the Swiss Open and Austrian Open in successive weeks.

Francisco Cerundolo won the Croatia Open, and Yoshihito Nishioka won the Atlanta Open on a hard court.

While Sebastian Korda won the Washington Open, Paris hosted the Summer Olympics, and Djokovic claimed some revenge over Alcaraz from the Wimbledon loss by collecting the gold medal in the final.

Bronze went to Lorenzo Musetti who defeated Felix Auger-Aliassime in the battle for final medal.


Over to Norrh America again in August for the prelude to US Open.

First the Canadian Open in Montreal, a Masters 1000 tournament.

Australian Alexei Popyrin, in the form of his life, won the title, defeating Andrey Rublev in the final, after knocking out Shelton, Dimitrov, Korda and Hurkacz on the way through.


Cincinnati Open next, Masters 1000 again, and Jannik Sinner back to the top, a warning to all ahead of Flushing Meadows.

He defeated Frances Tiafoe in the final.


Lorenzo Sonego won the Winston-Salem Open and then all eyes on New York.


The US Open saw Djokovic lose in the third round to the rampaging Popyrin.

Popyrin couldn’t go further and the quarter finals included Medvedev, de Minaur, Zverev and Dimitrov.

Their runs stopped and semi finals were contested by Sinner, Fritz, Tiafoe and Draper.


Jannik Sinner won his second hard court major for the year, defeating Taylor Fritz in the final, the first one for the American at the highest level.


September began with the Davis Cup group stage, determining which 8 nations would fill the spots in the November finals.

Italy, Argentina, USA, Australia, Germany, Canada, Netherlands and Spain won through.

The exhibition Laver Cup was also held, Team Europe successfully holding out Team World.


China became the focus with tournaments in Chengdu (won by Shang Juncheng - his first ATP Tour trophy), Hangzhou (won by Marin Cilic) and Beijing (won by Carlos Alcaraz).

The Shanghai Masters 1000 tournament was yet another triumph for Jannik Sinner who took down Djokovic in the October final.


October continued with wins to Karen Khachanov in Kazakhstan , Roberto Bautista Agut in Belgium, Tommy Paul in Sweden, Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard in Switzerland, and Jack Draper in Austria.


Alexander Zverev won the Paris Masters 1000, his second Masters 1000 title for the year, beating Ugo Humbert in the final.


In November Denis Shapovalov won in Serbia, amd Benjamin Bonzi won his first ATP Tour title, the Moselle Open, in France.


The Davis Cup was decided, and Italy defeated the Netherlands in the final, successfully defending the title.

Before that, the ATP Finals played out in Turin, Italy.

8 players qualified, and after the round robin matches, semi finalists were Casper Ruud, Alexander Zverev, Taylor Fritz and Jannik Sinner.


Jannik Sinner defeated Taylor Fritz in the final, to cap off a sensational year 


Sinner finished 2024 as number one, the top ten below. ( year start ranking in brackets)

  1. Jannik Sinner (4)
  2. Alexander Zverev (7)
  3. Carlos Alcaraz (2)
  4. Taylor Fritz (10)
  5. Daniil Medvedev (3)
  6. Casper Ruud (11)
  7. Novak Djokovic (1)
  8. Andrey Rublev (5)
  9. Alex de Minaur (12)
  10. Grigor Dimitrov (14)

WTA Tour - 2024 Review

The 2024 WTA season began with the top 10 as follows:

  1. Iga Swiatek 
  2. Aryna Sabalenka 
  3. CoCo Gauff 
  4. Elena Rybakina 
  5. Jessica Pegula 
  6. Ons Jabeur 
  7. Marketa Vondrousova 
  8. Maria Sakkari 
  9. Karolina Muchova 
  10. Barbora Krejcikova 

January saw titles won by Elena Rybakina, CoCo Gauff, Jelena Ostapenko and Emma Navarro.

Then the first Grand Slam tournament was held in Melbourne.

Aryna Sabalenka successfully defended her Australian Open crown, winning the final against Zheng Qinwen.

February, and Ostapenko won her second title for 2024 in Linz, Austria.

Rybakina also doubled up with triumph in Abu Dhabi.

Diana Shnaider captured her first title on the WTA Tour in Hua Hin, Thailand.

The first WTA 1000 tournament for 2024 was hosted in Doha, Qatar, and world number one, Swiatek, grabbed the trophy.

Other winners in the month weee Karolina Pliskova, Jasmine Paolini, Katie Boulter, and Yuan Yue, the latter collecting her first WTA Tour title in Austin, Texas.


The USA became the spotlight in March as the Sunshine Double featured the games best with two prestigious WTA 1000 events.

Indian Wells enabled Iga Swiatek to again reign supreme, dominating Maria Sakkari in the final.

Miami gave the American fans plenty to cheer about as the home nation’s Danielle Collins won the final against Elena Rybakina.


Collins continued her dazzling form to begin April, winning in Charleston.

The Billie Jean King Cup qualifiers were determined as Australia, Poland, Great Britain, USA, Japan, Germany, Slovakia, and Romania.

Titles to Camila Osorio, Sloane Stephens, another for Elena Rybakina (3 for the year) and Iga Swiatek’s third WTA 1000 win for 2024, overcoming Aryna Sabalenka in the Madrid final.


May began as April concluded, with Swiatek claiming her fourth WTA 1000 title of the year - in Rome she defeated Sabalenka in the final (second tournament in a row she had done this) to collect the Italian Open.

It was the perfect warm up for Roland Garros, where Iga won her third clay court major. Jasmine Paolini lost in her first Grand Slam final.

In between Rome and Paris, Americans Madison Keys and Peyton Stearns won titles in Strasbourg and Rabat respectively.

It was the first WTA Tour title for Stearns.


Grass in June, and in the lead up to Wimbledon, Liudmila Samsonova won in the Netherlands, and fellow Russians Daria Kasatkina and Diana Shnaider won titles in Germany and Eastbourne respectively.

Katie Boulter won Nottingham, while Jessica Pegula prevailed in Berlin, and Yulia Putintseva collected the Birmingham chocolates.


Wimbledon created some firsts - Barbora Krejcikova burst through to take her second Grand Slam title, adding to the 2021 Roland Garros triumph.

Jasmine Paolini was runner-up, and became the first female player to be a Roland Garros and Wimbledon finalist, in the same year, since Serena Williams in 2016.


Continuing in July, post Wimbledon, clay was the surface, and it favoured Zheng Qinwen,in Palermo, Diana Shnaider in Budapest, Magda Linette in Prague, and prodigious young talent Mirra Andreeva, whose first WTA Tour title was delivered in Iaşi, Romania.


Then the Paris Olympics, where Roland Garros saw Zheng Qinwen follow her Palermo form with a gold medal, defeating silver medalist Donna Vekic in the final.


August returned to North America, and two WTA 1000 tournaments - Jessica Pegula defeated fellow American Amanda Anisimova in the Canadian Open final, and Pegula followed up with a finals loss to Aryna Sabalenka in the Cincinnati Open final.


Linda Noskova won in Monterrey,for a first WTA Tour title, and McCartney Kessler took her first WTA Tour title trophy home from Cleveland.

Thea 2024 US Open was next, and Aryna Sabalenka proved once again her hard court credentials, by capturing her first New York major, and second Grand Slam tournament for 2024.

Her vanquished opponent was again Jessica Pegula.


Post US Open, tournaments were scattered around the world for September.

Magdalena Frech won in Mexico), Sonay Kartal in Tunisia, and Rebecca Sramkova in Thailand. For all three it was the first WTA Tour title.

Beatriz Haddad Maia won in South Korea.


The China Open, a WTA 1000 event, began at the end of September and concluded in the first week of October.

CoCo Gauff defeated Karolina Muchova in the final.


Concentration for the rest of October remained in Asia, particularly China.

The exception was Zeynep Sonmez winning her first WTA Tour title in Mexico.

Aryna Sabalenka defeated Zheng Qinwen in the final of Wuhan Open, a WTA 1000 tournament. Thea pair had met in the Australian Open final earlier the year, for the same outcome.

Still in China, Daria Kasatkina won the Ningbo Open, while Suzan Lamens travelled to Japan to win the nations Open, her first WTA Tour title.

Japan saw Zheng Qinwen continue her fine form, winning in Tokyo.

In China, Olga Danilovic won the Guangzhou Open, and Viktorija Golubic won the Jiangxi Open in Jiujiang.

Diana Shnaider won the Hong Kong Open, her fourth title for the year.


November arrived, and the WTA Finals in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia - the eight nest performed players of 2024 gathered, Aryna Sabalenka the hot favourite to win the trophy and finish the year as world number one.


Well, things began solidly for Sabalenka, but CoCo Gauff ruined the party.

Gauff defeated Iga Swiatek in the round robin series, ensuring that Swiatek wouldn’t reach the semi finals and have a chance of finishing world number one.

Then Gauff knocked out Sabalenka in the semis, proceeding afterwards to win the final against Zheng Qinwwn.

Gauff collected the Billie Jean King trophy for her performances in winning the WTA Finals.


Aryna Sabalenka ended the year as number one, the top ten below ( year start ranking in brackets)

  1. Aryna Sabalenka (2)
  2. Iga Swiatek (1)
  3. CoCo Gauff (3)
  4. Jasmine Paolini (29)
  5. Zheng Qinwen (14)
  6. Elena Rybakina (4)
  7. Jessica Pegula (5)
  8. Emma Navarro (31)
  9. Daria Kasatkina (18)
  10. Barbora Krejcikova (10)

The year wound up with Italy winning its second successive Billie Jean King Cup by defeating Slovakia in the final.


Player of the year: Aryna Sabalenka by virtue of winning two majors and two WTA 1000 tournaments.

Semi finalist at the WTA Finals

Quarter finalist at Roland Garros.

Finalist at two other WTA 1000 tournaments 

Finalist at a WTA 500 tournament 

Year end #1.