By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Saturday December 30, 2023
We are ready to ring in the new year with a new list of wishes, and a bright sense of hope, for 2024.
Photo Source: Rob Newell / Camera Sport
By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Saturday December 30, 2023
The 2024 tennis season is upon us, and with it a clean slate and a new batch of hopes and dreams. Here at Tennis Now, as we celebrate the end of another year, we’re just as eager to ring in the new year with these dreams in our heart.
Without any further ado, our tennis wish list for 2024…
25 for Novak and More
Will 2024 mean 25 for Novak Djokovic? Anybody who witnessed Djokovic make 36 look like the new 26 in 2023, knows that 25 is a likelihood, and that even more major milestones – can you say Olympic Gold? – might be in the offing.
But before we get too far ahead of ourselves, we hope to see Djokovic standing alone atop the Grand Slam singles title list, once and for all standing alone after knocking Margaret Court from the top of this list.
Rafa, back with a vengeance!
Rafael Nadal is ready to take his place on the tour in 2024 after a worrying year away from the sport. The legendary Spaniard has already warned us that 2024 could be the last year in which tennis fans are graced by his presence, and we hope that Nadal makes a winning return to the tour and reclaims his King status on his beloved clay when the season moves to clay in the spring.
There will never be a better clay-courter than Nadal, and one more shining achievement on that surface would certainly be a perfect way to re-emphasize that fact. Does he have a 15th Roland-Garros title in him? Count the King of Clay out at your own peril…
Peace and Prosperity for Osaka
Naomi Osaka returns to the tour as a new mom in 2024, and what we want most for the four-time major champion is for her to enjoy competing and to continue her evolution as an iconic superstar and player. Of course it would be incredible to see her join the elite forces at the top of the game and create new rivalries with the likes of Iga Swiatek, Aryna Sabalenka and Coco Gauff, but first and foremost we want Naomi to continue doing things on her own terms, and to inspire us in the way only she can.
Top-10 Debut for De Minaur
Alex de Minaur always answers the bell for Australia and never backs down from a challenge. Poised at No.12 in the world (peak ranking: 11) we would love to see “the Demon” earn the honor of cracking the ATP’s Top-10 in 2024. He has taken the torch from Lleyton Hewitt and become one of the sports’ most fiercest competitors over the last five seasons. A Top-10 ranking would be special for De Minaur, and nobody would appreciate it more than him.
Last Hurrahs for Murray, Wawrinka, Monfils, Gasquet
It’s hard to say what these four players have left in the tank at this stage of their career, but we hope that Andy Murray. Stan Wawrinka, Gael Monfils and Richard Gasquet all create special moments this year on tour, whether that be in the form of a deep run at a Slam, a title run at a smaller event, or just a magical victory in front of a partisan crowd. 2024 could be the end of the line for this quartet, and we hope to have the chance to send them off in style if it is.
Even better, we hope they all play so well that they elect to stay on tour for another season!
Mom Power - Kerber, Wozniacki, and more
Joining Osaka in the ranks of moms making their way back to the tour are Angelique Kerber, Caroline Wozniacki, Elina Svitolina and others. We wish them all success and hope to see them inspiring other WTA players and mothers all around the world in 2024. That goes for you, Taylor Townsend, Victoria Azarenka, Tatjana Maria, Vera Zvonareva, Yanina Wickmayer and others!
A Slam semi and maybe more for Pegula
Jessica Pegula hopes to finally break through and reach the semifinals at a major (after going 0-6 in her first six Slam quarterfinals) in 2024. She’s run up against some pretty difficult matchups at the Slams over the last three seasons, but the current World No.5, a late bloomer who didn’t enter the Top 100 until 2019, has what it takes to beat the best.
A trip to the semis at a Slam would be yet another well-deserved milestone for a player who has been a pillar of consistency on tour for the last four seasons.
Canada on the rise again
2023 was tough for the likes of Felix Auger-Aliassime, Denis Shapovalov and Bianca Andreescu. We wish them all renewed success in 2024. This trio has done so much for Canadian tennis over the last half decade (especially Andreescu who became the first Canadian Grand Slam singles champion at the US Open in 2019) and we have a feeling they are not done making history yet.
Rivalries at the top of both tours
Swiatek v Rybakina? Alcaraz v Sinner? Djokovic v Alcaraz? Gauff v Sabalenka? Here’s to fierce competition inside the Top 5 of both tours, with repeat matchups and high-stakes battles across the globe. 2024 could be the season where the top players separate themselves from the rest of the pack and function as the gift that keeps on giving across the tennis calendar. We’re here for it.
Why? Because we feel it is critically important for young stars such as Alcaraz, Sinner, Gauff and Swiatek to remain as preeminent forces in the game. If we can add Holger rune and Mirra Andreeva to the mix, even better. It’s also equally important that Djokovic stays competitive and continues to bring the best out of his younger rivals, just as it is that the younger rivals continue to force Djokovic to extract his very best. Add Nadal to the mix and it gets even more interesting.
The perfect venue and execution at the WTA Finals
The WTA Finals were dismal last year at Cancun, thanks to shoddy planning and unforeseen circumstances, and die-hard tennis fans – and players – suffered as they watched, knowing that the WTA’s prized jewel could be, and should be, so much better. Here’s hoping that the Tour finds a perfect host for 2024, and creates that spontaneous combustion and magic ambience that the world’s best tennis players deserve.
Injury Free Berrettini
The last few seasons have been hard luck and hard knocks for Italy’s Matteo Berrettini. He’s not the only player that has suffered due to a litany of injuries, but he may be the one that has suffered the most and in the most heartbreaking fashion. We want 2024 to be the season of perfect health for Berrettini (currently ranked 92), so that he can put that blazing forehand, serve and beaming smile on repeat and zoom up the rankings once again.
A Slam title for Jabeur
No more Jabeur heartbreak in 2024. Let it be the year that the Tunisian trailblazer rises from the ashes of her own shortcomings and shows us all what a remarkable champion she is. Jabeur’s story is far from being complete, and we believe the last few chapters are going to be the best.
The Thiem Dream
Dominic Thiem was once the man targeted to be the next great force at Roland-Garros, but injuries and a lack of confidence has taken him from his perch as a Top 5 talent and left him adrift, wallowing at No.98 in the ATP rankings.
We can’t quite stomach a reality that has Thiem finish out his career as a has-been, never displaying that electrifying form that made him one of the most lethal – and loved – players on tour a few short years ago. Here’s to the Thiem dream becoming reality once again in 2024.
A Deep Wimbledon run for Kvitova
Ah, Petra Kvitova, that beloved tour de force who made her name by winning a pair of Wimbledon titles in 2011 and 2014, which were so jaw-dropping that they seared the image of her crushing winners with ease in high stakes finals in our collective tennis memories.
Strange that she hasn’t reached beyond the round of 16 at SW19 in each of her last eight appearances, but those of us who remain mystified by Peak Petra on the grass are holding out hope that she’ll dial in that menacing grass game one more time and make herself a three-time Wimbledon champ. Why not 2024?