The Year in Women’s Tennis: A Look back at 2024 on the WTA Tour.
17/12/2024 11:56:48
After another exciting and suspenseful year of tennis on the WTA Tour, the players get a well-earned break at this time of year before show gets on the road once again for the start of the 2025 season. Three players shared the four Grand Slam titles as Iga Swiatek won the French Open, Aryna Sabalenka took home the Australian Open and US Open crowns while Barbora Krejcikova won the 2024 Wimbledon Championships.
Sabalenka at the Summit of the Women’s Game
2024 saw the hard hitting 26-year-old end the season as World No 1 for the first time, an achievement that should not be underestimated. Sabalenka is just the 16th player to achieve the coveted year end No 1 slot since the rankings were introduced in 1975.
Sabalenka kicked off her best year to date on tour by retaining her Australian Open title at the start of 2024. She had beaten one of her biggest rivals in the 2023 Final when she beat Elena Rybakina in three sets, but this year she beat one of the rising stars of the game in Zheng Qinwen to claim her second Grand Slam title. The next few months that followed however were difficult for Sabalenka as she fell at the quarter final stage at the French Open, before pulling out of Wimbledon and the Paris Olympics with a shoulder injury. When she returned though, she did so with a bang.
She won in Cincinnati, before claiming her first US Open title, when she beat Jessica Pegula in straight sets. She then entered the WTA Finals where she made it through to the Semi-Finals, earning herself the year ending No 1 spot, after Swiatek’s early exit.
Paolini’s Progress
2024 was also a momentous year for Italian player Jasmine Paolini. The 28-year-old ended 2023 at No 30 in the rankings, but after a breakthrough year which saw her reach two Grand Slam Finals at the French Open and Wimbledon, and win her maiden WTA 1000 event in Dubai, she ends 2024 as the fourth best tennis player in the world, according to the rankings.
Paolini also managed to win Doubles Gold for Italy at the Paris Olympics alongside Sara Errani, as well as playing a major role in helping Italy to win the 2024 Billie Jean King Cup in November.
"Sabalenka is just the 16th player to achieve the coveted year end No 1 slot since the rankings were introduced in 1975."
Iga Swiatek’s and Coco Gauff’s Mixed Bag
As two of the standard bearers of the WTA Tour Swiatek and Gauff can look back at some remarkable highs in 2024, but also some disappointing results.
For Swiatek the highlight was claiming her fifth Grand Slam title at Roland Garros in June. She also added four other titles in the first half of the year but since her French Open win she has failed to add another title. She was highly fancied to win Gold at the Olympics but was beaten by in the Semi-Finals. She did take the bronze medal, becoming the first Polish tennis player to claim an Olympic medal.
Gauff rounded off a mixed 2024 by claiming the year ending WTA Finals in Riyadh. She beat Iga Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka along the way to win the finale of the season. In the Slams however it was a tough year for the 2023 US Open winner. At the Australian Open she made the Semi Finals losing to Sabalenka.
At the French Open she lost to Swiatek at the Semi Final stage once more. Her Wimbledon challenge faltered at the Fourth Round, losing to fellow American Emma Navarro, who also ended her US Open defence at the Fourth-Round stage. Gauff did win her maiden Grand Slam Doubles title, taking the 2024 French Open with her partner Katerina Siniakova, but will hope to add more Singles titles in 2025.
Conclusion
2024 was something of a year of breakthroughs on the WTA Tour.
Sabalenka came to the fore with two Slam titles and the year ending No 1 spot. Gauff won her first WTA Finals, while for Jasmine Paolini, she ended the season at World No 4, thus cementing her position at the top of the game. Zheng Qinwen won Olympic Gold and reached the Finals at the Australian Open and the WTA Finals. Emma Navarro jumped 30 places in the rankings from last year to finish the season at World No 8, again highlighting just how competitive it is at the top end of the women’s game.
And the good news is, it all kicks off again on December 27th.
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Liam Lacey is a sportswriter from County Laois in Ireland who specializes in delivering content on GAA, horse races, and football matters (though he does see himself as somewhat of a tennis aficionado also).
Liam has written about All Ireland Gaelic Football and Hurling Championships, Premier League, Champions League and international football, offering expert opinions and match previews and predictions. Occasionally, even getting some right!
