best tennis players 2024

He might have the best return game of any American, but at 6-foot-1 his service game isn’t nearly as big. That might firmly establish that he’s got a lower overall ceiling, but he’s got a higher floor, too. The self-proclaimed „worst athlete in the family“ appeared to be on his own mega-breakthrough in 2023 after dominating Daniil Medvedev on his way to the Australian Open quarterfinals. But a wrist injury there knocked him out for most of four months, and he won only one Slam match the rest of the year. He won 10 of 12 at one point in the fall, however, and his game is the most well rounded of any of the other „young, big-serving American“ prototypes.

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I had the chance to try and return one of Novak’s serves and that was impossible. While the PTPA has yet to be formally recognised by the tours or the slams, it is increasingly being included in the conversations around the future of the game. And Nassar believes that change is possible, despite the chaotic and internecine struggles that usually pass for tennis politics. Unusually for the incestuous world of tennis, the 44-year-old Nassar has worked at a high level in other sports, including the NFL.

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If the PTPA decides to bring a case, one sensitive area for both tours is their shared stance on exhibition events, such as the lucrative Six Kings Slam being played in Saudi Arabia in a fortnight’s time. Already this season, we have seen proposals for a streamlined “Premium Tour” peter out, while cases of player burn-out proliferate, and matches increasingly extend into the small hours of the morning. Frustration is building within both the men’s and women’s locker rooms. It might be presumptuous putting the teenager here instead of more established players such as Mackenzie McDonald or Marcos Giron. The big-serving, 6-foot-4 Michelsen took down both McDonald and John Isner on his way to the Newport finals in July.

The Best Tennis Players Of 2024, Ranked

After a change to her coaching team, she won summer titles in Washington and Cincinnati, beating Iga Swiatek for the first time. Then she carved through the US Open field, beating Aryna Sabalenka in the final. She won 22 of 23 matches at one point, won nine of her last 13 against top-10ers and finishes the year third in the world. She is officially a threat to win any Slam she enters for the foreseeable future.

From Carlos Alcaraz to Coco Gauff, here is a look at the top tennis stars headed to the Olympics.

  • The ATP Rankings are not to be confused with the ATP Live Rankings.
  • The ultra-athletic, 6-foot-4 Shelton might have the most upside in the American player pool.
  • Unfortunately, those four events have come in a more than three-year span.
  • That’s something I’d like to take from them, as well as being able to perform under all the pressure and circumstances they face on any given day.
  • He went 3-5 against top-20 opponents, too — better than Paul.
  • With lots of stars making gains and a couple breaking through in a major way, suddenly 2023 went from a year of stagnation to tantalizing development and depth.

We’re serving up the ultimate ranking of the best tennis players of 2024, a list created for fans, by fans. Our criteria for ranking these athletes takes into account this year’s performance on the court, current ATP rankings, consistency, sportsmanship, and popularity among fans globally. This list is intended to celebrate the skill, persistence, and flair of these athletes while also appreciating the transformative effect they have had on the game we love.

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With a game style that has been described as a mix of Nadal and Federer, Holger Rune is part of the younger cohort leading the charge of the next generation of elite players. Rune, who turned pro in 2020, has four career titles, including the 2022 ATP Masters in Paris and the 2023 BMW Open in Munich, and is currently ranked sixth in the world. Jessica Pegula spent much of her early career battling on the lower ITF circuit, taking 11 years after turning pro to break into the top 100.

ATP Rankings – Men’s Singles

But he also lost four straight matches at one point during the American summer swing and dropped back out of the top 50. The 6-footer has a slightly less consistent version of Paul’s game, but he can mix it up with just about anyone outside the top 10. The 6-foot-11 serve-bot missed most of a year with a hip injury, then hurt his wrist during rehab. After one match in a challenger event in November, he withdrew with a hand injury. He has earned seven total rankings points since August 2022. But he’s also only 26, and if his now-lengthy injury history was more bad luck than a sign of things to come, he’s got plenty of time to again establish himself as a top-30 or so presence.

Top 10s: Ranking the best men’s and women’s players heading into 2024

  • No qualifier entry has ever gone on to win the US Open until 2021 when 18-year-old Emma Raducanu did just that, claiming the Grand Slam title in dominating fashion without dropping a set the entire tournament.
  • She spent most of a year ranked either seventh or eighth in the world, and from August 2021 through May 2023, she went just 3-15 against top-10 opponents.
  • The Entry Protection status gives players entry into the main draw or qualifying competition or for special exempt consideration.
  • A player can gain protected ranking status when physically injured and does not compete in any tennis event for a minimum of six months.
  • You can see the full ATP Rankings below; you can also search for your favourite player to see their current ranking.
  • Taylor Fritz basically ended the year where he started from a rankings standpoint and couldn’t turn a top-10 ranking into sustained threats in Grand Slams.
  • Speaking during his post-match press conference in China, Alcaraz expanded on his bubbling rivalry with the Italian, telling reporters the two „aren’t close friends.“

Navarro won just one Slam match, but she finished the year on the brink of the top 30 thanks to steadily awesome performances at minor events. She reached seven ITF finals (with five titles) and won 64 of a grueling 88 matches. She also beat two top-15 players, Maria Sakkari and Keys, in September. Her serve needs work, but Pegula might be the only American with a better return game. Winners of the men’s singles and doubles grand slam tournaments receive 2,000 points with the runner-up receiving 1,300 points. This excludes wild cards and entries as a Direct Acceptance, should the true ranking allow this.

Paris Olympics: See dates, sports, how to watch and more

He checked that one off at the Australian Open, his second Slam. The ultra-athletic, 6-foot-4 Shelton might have the most upside in the American player pool. The tour adjusted to him in the spring and summer, and he found another gear in the fall.

  • The 25-year-old from China relies on her speed to control points from serve, and has shown a lot of promise in her young career.
  • Below are links to the latest ATP and WTA rankings for singles and doubles.
  • She reached the third round in her first Olympics and is coming off a second-round defeat to eventual champion Iga Swiatek at Wimbledon.
  • The best part of the game is probably how fast it is and watching it live, you can appreciate how good they are.
  • The 2017 US Open champion remains a threat in any match, but she still struggles to string good performances together.

ATP 500 Points Breakdown

A player can gain protected ranking status when physically injured and does not compete in any tennis event for a minimum of six months. The petition is issued to the ATP (usually the CEO) and must be received within six months of his last tournament. The second table is the live rankings; this showcases real-time rankings of a player’s position in the race to finish in the Top 8 for the season-ending ATP and WTA Finals. They are updated frequently each week, and players can jump around spots daily. The first are the official world rankings updated weekly on Mondays when points from the previous 52 weeks have dropped.

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Equally noteworthy in the list are the Russian aces, Daniil Medvedev and Andrey Rublev, who are reinventing the game with their tenacious performances. Medvedev’s style of play is a perfect blend of versatility and precision, keeping opponents and spectators on their toes. Rublev, known for his explosive power and hard-shot baseline games, constantly delivers electrifying performances that leave fans in awe. Carrying forward the legacy of German tennis, Alexander Zverev’s intelligent gameplay and clinical finishes make him a formidable force in the circuit. Stefanos Tsitsipas has a massive 1.8 million follower count on Instagram, where the 25-year-old Greek phenom is known for posting pictures of his travels and more.

ATP Points 2024

Monastir champion Sonay Kartal and Guadalajara finalist Olivia Gadecki have become the 15th and 16th players to break the Top 100 for the first time in 2024. The winners of challenger tournaments receive between 50 and 175 points depending on the level of the tournament, with runners up receiving between 30 and 100 points. Novak Djokovic is the current world number 1 in the ATP rankings, with Novak currently holding the record for most weeks as the No.1 in men’s tennis.

These rankings are used for seedings and determining which tournament a player can enter directly. Carlos Alcaraz is leading the charge of the younger generation of professional tennis players. At just 20 years old, the Spaniard has already racked up 12 career titles including two Grand Slams. With lightning-fast court speed, pinpoint accuracy from the baseline and a devious drop shot, Alcaraz has few, if any, weaknesses in his game as one of the most exciting players around. A male professional tennis player’s ranking is based on their performance at ATP-sanctioned tournaments over the proceeding 52-week period.

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Success on the challenger and futures circuits bumped him into the top 100 and earned him a spot in the year-end NextGen finals. He’s very much a work in progress, but he’s a name to watch. The story of the summer, Eubanks reached the quarterfinals in Miami, then produced a 14-4 record on grass, winning in Mallorca and beating Stefanos Tsitsipas on the way to the Wimbledon quarterfinals.

best tennis players 2024

Veterans like Madison Keys, Danielle Collins and Sloane Stephens battled consistency issues. Speaking during his post-match press conference in China, Alcaraz expanded on his bubbling rivalry with the Italian, telling reporters the two „aren’t close friends.“ „It keeps happening every single time they play. They come up with suspense, they come up with entertainment.“

  • „I think we both respect each other a lot, as a player, as a person, but once we are on tour travelling, during tournaments when we are on site, we are with our team on our own, so we don’t speak too much.
  • The story of the summer, Eubanks reached the quarterfinals in Miami, then produced a 14-4 record on grass, winning in Mallorca and beating Stefanos Tsitsipas on the way to the Wimbledon quarterfinals.
  • After one match in a challenger event in November, he withdrew with a hand injury.
  • Rune, who turned pro in 2020, has four career titles, including the 2022 ATP Masters in Paris and the 2023 BMW Open in Munich, and is currently ranked sixth in the world.
  • The protected ranking gives a player a spot in the rankings determined by the player’s average ATP Rankings position during the first three months of his injury.

The ATP and WTA both use non-competition clauses which limit players’ ability to compete in these independent events away from the tour. But such restrictions could potentially be classed as restraint of trade if a legal challenge were to be launched. The PTPA’s central point is that the average tennis player remains overworked and underpaid by the standards of global sport. Although https://mercurybet.org/login/ the ATP and WTA Tours have staved off the spectre of a LIV-style breakaway, mainly by granting official events to Saudi Arabia, it now seems as though revolution could come from within. Paul made the most of a favorable Australian Open draw to charge to the semis, then pulled off his best win of the season — a three-setter over Carlos Alcaraz — to reach the semifinals in Toronto.

  • Carrying forward the legacy of German tennis, Alexander Zverev’s intelligent gameplay and clinical finishes make him a formidable force in the circuit.
  • Sinner defeated world number one Carlos Alcaraz in the semi-finals at the 2023 Miami Open, and has attributed his recent success to his improved mental, physical conditioning, and change in coaching staff.
  • The PTPA may have been founded in 2019 by Djokovic, working in tandem with Canadian pro Vasek Pospisil, but the appointment of Nassar as chief executive in 2022 represented a step up in ambition.
  • Iga Swiatek spent a whopping 75 consecutive weeks at world number one, the third-longest streak in WTA history, before getting bumped to number two after her fourth-round loss at the 2023 US Open.
  • Novak Djokovic is the most decorated men’s tennis player in history when it comes to Grand Slams, but he will be chasing a career first in Paris.
  • The “open” in the US Open means the tournament is open for anyone to compete.
  • Meanwhile the ATP have extended Masters 1000 tournaments to two weeks and the WTA have bumped up the number of mandatory events from four to 10.
  • Jenson Brooksby was suspended for 18 months for missed drug tests.
  • In her past four Slams, Brady has won 15 matches and reached two semifinals and one final.

Collins was beset by unlucky draws in 2023, finishing seven of her 18 tournaments against Swiatek, Pegula or Rybakina. But she went against everyone else on tour, with two top-10 wins and four quarterfinal appearances. She is managing a number of chronic issues and doesn’t play a ton of events, but at worst she should remain a constant bracket-buster candidate in any tournament. Known as “Queen Wen” to her fans, Qinwen Zheng has been befuddling opponents with her signature high-spinning forehand and powerful serve. The 25-year-old from China relies on her speed to control points from serve, and has shown a lot of promise in her young career.

The below list of the top 100 male tennis players in the 2024 ATP Rankings List is updated every Monday as soon as the updated ranking goes live on the ATP Tour website. With the new year right around the corner, 2024 is looking to bring even more drama-filled action to the courts with potential retirement plans for some of the all-time greats. In addition, you’ll catch past winners returning to the game after some time away and the hunt for first grand slam titles, courtesy of hungry, up-and-coming athletes. With all that said, we bet you’re asking yourself who you should be watching out for in 2024.

Alcaraz, the young prodigy, has fascinated fans with his relentless passion and speed on the court. Djokovic, a familiar name to tennis enthusiasts, continues his legacy as one of the greatest with his superior strategy and unmatched consistency. Meanwhile, Sinner delights fans with his athletic prowess, striking winners from every corner of the court. Currently the third-ranked player in the world, Daniil Medvedev is one of the most charismatic and outspoken individuals in tennis. Not afraid to get in a verbal altercation with the umpire over a ruling or even with members of the audience who aren’t seated during play, Daniil’s creativity on the court makes him one to watch.

Rafael Nadal will compete in his third and final Olympics this summer at Roland-Garros, where he has won 14 French Open titles. He struggled in this year’s French Open, however, falling to defending Olympic gold medalist Alexander Zverev in the first round. “The system is so biased against the players, as well as sub-optimal for fans and media partners and other commercial partners,” Nassar explained. “Only yesterday you had Naomi Osaka and Coco Gauff playing in Beijing in what should be a celebrated match, but it’s late in the year and everyone’s already burned out.

The PTPA has mostly stayed out of the headlines for the past five years, concentrating on building its infrastructure, offering player services and benefits, and raising revenue via trading cards and computer games. The players’ association founded by Novak Djokovic is weighing up a programme of legal challenges that could reshape the world game. Both players and their teams boarded the same private plane from Beijing to Shanghai, to prepare for the Masters 1000 event.

Foot and knee injuries kept her off the tour for nearly two straight years, but in six summer/fall events she managed to beat three top-30 opponents and nearly toppled Elena Rybakina in Montreal. With lots of stars making gains and a couple breaking through in a major way, suddenly 2023 went from a year of stagnation to tantalizing development and depth. Do players such as Pegula, Fritz and Tiafoe still have another level to add to their respective games?

The official rankings are updated every Monday, except during the middle of Grand Slam tournaments and Miami + Indian Wells. With 2024 NFL training camps on the horizon, the league’s true insiders made their voices heard. ESPN surveyed league executives, coaches and scouts to help us rank the top 10 players at 11 different positions, from quarterback to cornerback and all positions in between. This was the fifth edition of these rankings, and as usual, several players moved up or fell off last year’s lists. After a bright 2022, Nakashima suffered a lost year of sorts.

The ATP rankings are the official world rankings for men’s singles tennis. They are calculated by taking a player’s best 19 tournament results to determine their ranking over the preceding 52 weeks. Suppose a player is physically injured and does not compete in any tennis event for twelve months or longer.