Raducanu begins work with fitness coach Nakamura
Emma Raducanu hopes to exploit her natural athleticism and reduce injury as she hires Maria Sharapova’s former fitness Yutaka Nakamura.
Emma Raducanu hopes to exploit her natural athleticism and reduce injury as she hires Maria Sharapova’s former fitness Yutaka Nakamura.
A full complement of the ATP Tour’s leading stars will chase early Grand Slam glory in 2025 at January’s Australian Open.
The No. 1 in the PIF ATP Rankings Jannik Sinner leads the field at the hard-court major in Melbourne, where the Italian will defend his 2024 title. Sinner’s fellow top four stars Alexander Zverev, Carlos Alcaraz and Taylor Fritz will also compete, while Novak Djokovic and Daniil Medvedev join Sinner as the only former champions on the main-draw entry list.
The 37-year-old Djokovic is chasing a record 11th Australian Open title. The Serbian, who will have new coach Andy Murray in his corner, is also seeking his 100th tour-level title. Djokovic has the chance to hit that milestone before Melbourne, however, when he competes at the Brisbane International presented by Evie in the opening week of the season.
Top 10 stars who will hope to lift their maiden major crown in Melbourne include Zverev, Fritz, Casper Ruud, Andrey Rublev and Grigor Dimitrov. Home hopes at Melbourne Park, where main-draw action will run from 14-28 January, will be led by Alex de Minaur. The No. 9 in the PIF ATP Rankings has reached the fourth round in each of the three past years.
For the first time in two years, home fans will also be able to cheer on Nick Kyrgios at the Australian Open. The 29-year-old will play his first competitive event since June 2023 in Brisbane, before heading to Melbourne. Alexei Popyrin and Jordan Thompson are the other Top 30 Australians on the list.
[NEWSLETTER FORM]
Alexander Zverev’s firepower was on full display during his standout 2024 season.
The German fired 797 aces across 90 matches, according to Infosys ATP Stats, the most among any player on the Tour. Despite finishing inside the Top 5 on four previous occasions, including a previous high of 749 hit in 2021, this year marks the first time Zverev has topped the aces leaderboard.
[ATP APP]The 27-year-old’s 797 is the lowest number recorded by an ace leader since Guy Forget hit 595 in 1991. Nevertheless, Zverev’s key weapon has been pivotal in his return to a career high of No. 2 in the PIF ATP Rankings.
Hubert Hurkacz, who last year became just the 10th player to record at least 1,000 aces in a season, finished in second in 2024. The Pole, who underwent meniscus surgery in July, managed to deliver 736 aces across 58 matches this season.
2024 Aces Leaderboard
| Player | Aces | Matches |
| 1) Alexander Zverev | 797 | 90 |
| 2) Hubert Hurkacz | 736 | 58 |
| 3) Taylor Fritz | 725 | 74 |
| 4) Ben Shelton | 619 | 67 |
| 5) Andrey Rublev | 578 | 69 |
| 6) Jannik Sinner | 563 | 76 |
| 7) Alexander Bublik | 559 | 49 |
| 8) Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard | 532 | 28 |
| 9) Grigor Dimitrov | 487 | 64 |
| 10) Jack Draper | 486 | 59 |
Explosive Americans Taylor Fritz (725) and Ben Shelton (619) were among just four players to land more than 600 aces in 2024. Their booming serves have been the foundation for eye-catching ascents, with both reaching career-high PIF ATP Rankings this year.
World No. 1 Jannik Sinner’s vastly improved serve – he hit 563 aces in 2024 – ensured he made his Top 10 debut at sixth on the leaderboard. The Italian also won 91.4 per cent of service games across the season, the most of any player on the ATP Tour.
Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard’s sizzling serve highlighted his breakthrough season. The 21-year-old, who won two ATP Tour titles in Lyon and Basel, hit 532 aces in just 28 matches to finish eighth in the chart. Mpetshi Perricard used his serve to devastating effect on the grass at Wimbledon, where he became just the seventh man in history to record more than 50 aces in a match.
[NEWSLETTER FORM]Emma Raducanu hopes to exploit her natural athleticism and reduce injury as she hires Maria Sharapova’s former fitness Yutaka Nakamura.
To mark the end of another thrilling season, ATPTour.com is unveiling our annual ‘Best Of’ series, which will reflect on the most intriguing rivalries, matches, comebacks, upsets and more. Today, we have curated a must-see collection of the top ‘Hot Shots’ from 2024.
[ATP APP]Get ready to relive the jaw-dropping shotmaking of ATP Tour stars who this season turned the court into their stage.
Carlos Alcaraz produced creativity in an ATP Masters 1000 final that brought the crowd to a standing ovation, while Jannik Sinner laid it all out on the grass by diving for a ball and hitting a winner from the floor. Who else do you think made the list?
Shots that are improbable, extraordinary and at times, unorthodox, are scattered throughout, so watch the full video below to see the best selection from 2024.
[NEWSLETTER FORM]
A tennis player is never finished fine-tuning their game. Our four Most Improved Player of the Year nominees in the 2024 ATP Awards took it to another level this season in their pursuit of greatness.
Jack Draper, Tomas Machac, Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard and Alejandro Tabilo showed big performance boosts throughout the year and made significant jumps in the PIF ATP Rankings.
| Player | Age | 2023 Year-end Ranking | Current Ranking |
| Draper | 22 | 61 | 15 |
| Machac | 24 | 78 | 25 |
| Mpetshi Perricard | 21 | 206 | 31 |
| Tabilo | 27 | 85 | 23 |
Nominees for Most Improved Player of the Year are determined by an International Tennis Writers’ Association (ITWA) vote. The winner is selected by players from the shortlist and will be announced during ATP Awards week, starting Monday, 9 December.
[ATP APP]Jack Draper
British No. 1 Draper, who will turn 23 on 22 December, broke through this season with his first two career titles this season in Stuttgart and Vienna. After injury struggles in 2023, he rose to a career-high PIF ATP Ranking of No. 15 behind those two trophies, beating Matteo Berrettini and Karen Khachanov, respectively, in the finals. One week after his triumph in Austria, he celebrated with a Top 10 win against Taylor Fritz at the Rolex Paris Masters.
“I’ve had a lot of tough moments but I’ve always tried to stay strong,” Draper told ATPTour.com after claiming his maiden tour-level crown. “I think it shows my love for tennis and the amazing people I have around me to push me to keep on persevering and keep on moving forward.”
Draper set the tone for the 2024 season by reaching the Adelaide final in his first tournament of the year. He broke into the Top 50 by February and reached the Acapulco semi-finals in his first event as part of that group. The Briton finished the season with a 39-22 record.
Tomas Machac
Machac climbed 53 places in the PIF ATP Rankings this season to end the year as the World No. 25. The 24-year-old reached his first tour-level final in May in Geneva and also made two deep runs at the ATP Masters 1000 level, reaching the Miami quarter-finals and the Shanghai semis
At all three events, he left superstars in his wake. He beat Andrey Rublev and Andy Murray in Miami, Novak Djokovic in Geneva, and Tommy Paul and Carlos Alcaraz in succession in Shanghai.
“I knew that the level of my tennis would be great because I am playing [my] best right now, for sure,” he said after stunning Alcaraz in two tight sets. That October victory made him the fourth lowest-ranked semi-finalist in Shanghai history.
“I am really enjoying it and am happy that I can play against the best,” added Machac, who entered the Top 25 immediately following that run.
Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard
The Frenchman’s first title came in storybook fashion, two months before his 21st birthday. In his hometown of Lyon, he saved a match point against Tomas Martin Etcheverry and ultimately won a third-set tie-break for the trophy.
“It means a lot. A lot of dedication, a lot of hard training, a lot of questions about my game,” Mpetshi Perricard said after his victory. “But I’m very happy to win this one in Lyon especially, my hometown.”
He backed up that performance with a second title in Basel in October, which lifted him to a high of No. 30 in the PIF ATP Rankings. Proving he belongs at that elite level, the big-serving Frenchman earned five Top 30 wins across his two title runs, including straight-sets wins against Felix Auger-Aliassime, Holger Rune and Ben Shelton at the Basel ATP 500 in October. He also beat Frances Tiafoe at the Rolex Paris Masters, closing out his season back on home soil.
Alejandro Tabilo
Tabilo’s rise of 62 places in the PIF ATP Rankings this season is the most among players in the Top 30. The Chilean hit a career-high of World No. 19 in July and finished the year inside the Top 25 after starting it at No. 85.
After winning his first tour-level title in Auckland to start the season, he shared some of the key improvements that led to his milestone moment at the hard-court event.
“As a player I think lately I’ve learned more about how well I can play with counter-attacking, with how aggressive I can be,” he said. “I think my serve has been improving a lot more and it’s been a big help. I think as an overall player I have become a little bit more aggressive, which has helped me a lot.”
Those weapons would help Tabilo earn a second title on Mallorca’s grass courts and reach the final on the clay of Santiago. With success on all three surfaces, the 27-year-old showcased another improvement: his versatility.
[NEWSLETTER FORM]#NextGenATP American Nishesh Basavareddy is turning pro, he announced on Instagram Thursday.
Basavareddy spent two years at Stanford University, where he was a two-time ITA All-American and qualified for the ATP Next Gen Accelerator both seasons. The World No. 138 in the PIF ATP Rankings will forgo his remaining college eligibility.
“Since I started playing tennis at three years old, it’s been my dream to be a pro tennis player. Thanks to the support from my friends, family, coaches, Stanford family, and the USTA, I can live out my childhood dream,” Basavareddy wrote on Instagram. “With that being said, I will be forgoing my NCAA eligibility to play pro tennis. Looking forward to what the future holds.”
[ATP APP]The teenager will soon be in action at the Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF, which runs from 18-22 December in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Basavareddy is one of three Americans to qualify for this year’s edition of the 20-and-under event, alongside Alex Michelsen and Learner Tien.
Basavareddy began this season at World No. 457 before making a splash on the ATP Challenger Tour. The American won two Challenger titles and reached four additional finals at that level. He tallied a 41-13 match record, becoming just the third American in Challenger history (since 1978) to earn more than 40 wins in a single season. Tristan Boyer, another former Stanford player, also accomplished the feat this year.
Stanford’s men’s tennis head coach Paul Goldstein, a former Top 60 player in the PIF ATP Rankings, looks forward to watching Basavareddy continue his rise.
“Nishesh is a special young man whose successes on the tennis court are a tribute to his unique talent, highly disciplined work ethic and sheer passion for our sport,” Goldstein said. “More importantly, he and his family are thoughtful, gracious, and wonderful people.
“Nishesh is truly realising a lifelong dream by pursuing his professional tennis career and I could not imagine being happier for someone that I am for him. Nishesh will always have a home at Stanford and will have our entire community enthusiastically behind him.”
Born in Newport Beach, California, Basavareddy and his family moved to central Indiana when Nishesh was eight years old. Basavareddy instantly connected with former doubles No. 1 and Indiana-native Rajeev Ram at a tennis camp led by their mutual coach Bryan Smith. The #NextGenATP teen, who was a practise partner at the 2023 Nitto ATP Finals, has since regarded Ram as a mentor.
[NEWSLETTER FORM]After a series of injuries, Nick Kyrgios uses his protected ranking to secure a place in the main draw of January’s Australian Open.
Marin Cilic sent his heartfelt regards to former rival Juan Martin del Potro on social media Wednesday.
The former No. 3 in the PIF ATP Rankings officially bid farewell to the sport last weekend during an exhibition match at Parque Roca in Buenos Aires, where he faced 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic. He also played his final ATP Tour match in the Argentine capital at the 2022 IEB+ Argentina Open.
[ATP APP]“So many farewells this year, and while they are bittersweet for us tennis enthusiasts, they are also a celebration of all that you guys have achieved,” Cilic shared on X.
“Congratulations on all your incredible accomplishments, for realizing your dreams, and for inspiring so many with your journey.”
Dear Juan Martin,
So many farewells this year, and while they are bittersweet for us tennis enthusiasts, they are also a celebration of all that you guys have achieved.
I’m truly happy that you had the farewell you deserve, at home, alongside @DjokerNole, who showed…
1/3— Marin Cilic (@cilic_marin) December 4, 2024
The two players achieved their career milestones at the US Open, with Del Potro emerging victorious in 2009 and Cilic claiming the trophy in 2014. They played 13 times in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series, with the Argentine winning 11 of those matches. The pair’s last meeting came at Roland Garros in 2018, which Del Potro won in four sets.
With that in mind, their mutual respect extends far beyond the court.
Del Potro, a 22-time tour-level titlist, sealed his career with a 439-174 record, according to the Infosys ATP Win/Loss Index.
“While we can’t help but wonder what could have been if luck (and health) had been kinder to you, your legacy is secure as one of the greats,” Cilic said. “Wishing you all the best in everything that follows—you truly deserve it.”
[NEWSLETTER FORM]ATPTour.com reviews key facts and figures to remember from the 2024 ATP Challenger Tour season.
Ugo Carabelli Claims Most Match Wins
For the second consecutive year, an Argentine topped the Challenger match wins leaderboard. The 25-year-old Camilo Ugo Carabelli tallied a 49-16 season record, steering clear of second-placed Tristan Boyer, who went 44-23.
Ugo Carabelli claimed three titles, lifting the trophy in Piracicaba, Santa Cruz de la Sierra and Villa Maria. Last year’s match-wins leader was Ugo Carabelli’s countryman Francisco Comesana.
[ATP APP]
Dzumhur Dominates With Six Titles
The 32-year-old Damir Dzumhur enjoyed a resurgent year, collecting a season-leading six Challenger titles and returning to the Top 100 for the first time in four years. Dzumhur was unstoppable in Challenger finals, winning 12 of 13 sets contested across six title matches. The former World No. 23 in the PIF ATP Rankings triumphed in Barletta, Ostrava, Zagreb, Santo Domingo, Istanbul and Maia.
Dzumhur is one of seven players to win at least six crowns in a Challenger season, joining Tallon Griekspoor, Benjamin Bonzi, Sebastian Baez, Facundo Bagnis, Juan Ignacio Chela and Younes El Aynaoui.
<img alt=”Damir Dzumhur wins his second Challenger title of 2024 in Ostrava.” style=”width:100%;” src=”/-/media/images/news/2024/04/29/21/15/dzumhur-ostravach-2024.jpg” />
Damir Dzumhur wins in Ostrava. Credit: Lukas Brezin
Jacob Fearnley won four Challenger trophies, second most this season. The Briton went 27-3 this season on the Challenger circuit, including a 17-match winning streak from August to October.
Fearnley became just the third player to finish a season with a win percentage of 90 per cent or greater (min. 25 matches played). Guillermo Canas and Carlos Berlocq both registered 28-3 (90.3 per cent) records in 2006 and 2011, respectively.
Teen Titans
At 17 years, 11 months, Brazil’s Joao Fonseca became the youngest Challenger champion of 2024 with his triumph at the Lexington Challenger. Teenagers accounted for 17 titles this year, matching the most in a single season since 2017. Three #NextGenATP teens claimed more than one title: Learner Tien (3), Gabriel Debru (2) and Nishesh Basavareddy (2).
Biggest Movers To Top 100
The 23-year-old Fearnley, who graduated from Texas Christian University in May, made the biggest jump to the year-end Top 100 of the PIF ATP Rankings, soaring 539 spots to No. 99. This is the biggest jump to the year-end Top 100 since 2019, when Jannik Sinner rose 685 spots.
| Player | Ranking Jump | Year-End 2023 — 2024 |
| Jacob Fearnley | +539 | 638 – 99 |
| Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard | +175 | 206 – 31 |
| Shang Juncheng | +135 | 185 – 50 |
| Jakub Mensik | +118 | 166 – 48 |
Title Leaders By Country
Players from 44 countries won a title this year. France again led the way with 24 trophies, just three shy of tying its record from last season. Frenchmen Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard and Benjamin Bonzi each claimed a hat-trick of trophies.
| Country | Titles |
| France | 24 |
| Argentina | 22 |
| United States | 18 |
| Italy | 12 |
ATP Tour & Challenger Tour champions
Six players were crowned champion not only on the ATP Challenger Tour, but also the ATP Tour: Luciano Darderi, Alejandro Tabilo, Mpetshi Perricard, Arthur Fils, Nuno Borges and Benjamin Bonzi.
Tabilo, Mpetshi Perricard and Fils won two tour-level titles. Mpetshi Perricard, 21, is the first player in a decade to win multiple ATP Tour and ATP Challenger Tour titles in a season. David Goffin and Pablo Cuevas both achieved the feat in 2014.
ATP Challenger 175 Events
Five different champions were featured at Challenger 175 events, the highest category at that level. Nuno Borges successfully defended his Phoenix title by downing Matteo Berrettini in the final. Alejandro Tabilo won in Aix-en-Provence while Mariano Navone triumphed in Cagliari. Navone ousted Lorenzo Musetti in the championship match, which was the first Challenger final since 2009 to feature a pair of Top 50 players.
Arthur Fils, first in the PIF ATP Live Race To Jeddah, won on home soil in Bordeaux, France. Italian Francesco Passaro lifted the trophy in Turin, where he defeated five Top 100 players en route to the title, becoming the first player to achieve that feat since Robin Soderling in 2009 (Sunrise).
Fast Facts