The Gryphon Gazette

By Aditya G. ‘27

This year was a landmark one for the sport of tennis. From the Australian Open to the Paris Masters, this season has been an eventful one. In this article, we will recap the nine ATP Masters 1000 tournaments as well as the Grand Slams, and talk about the breakthroughs certain players have made this season. 

The first major tournament this year was the Australian Open. Most of the top seeds traveled deep into the tournament, but eighth-seeded Holger Rune suffered a shocking second-round defeat to Arthur Cazaux, commencing a frustrating season for Rune. The #2 American at the time, Tommy Paul, was knocked out in the third round at the hands of Miomir Kecmanovic. In the fourth round, #1 seed Novak Djokovic made a statement by defeating Adrian Mannarino 6-0, 6-0, 6-3, and we saw two entertaining five-setters between Alex Zverev and Cameron Norrie as well as Alex de Minaur and Andrey Rublev. Zverev went on to take out the favorite, Carlos Alcaraz, before a semi-final loss to Daniil Medvedev. In the final, Medvedev was two sets up against Sinner, but Jannik Sinner displayed admirable grit to claw back from 6-3, 6-3 down to win his first grand slam 3-6, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-3. This was the beginning of an exciting year for Jannik Sinner as he looked to take over the world’s #1 spot.

In March, we had two Masters 1000 tournaments, one being the Indian Wells. In this tournament, Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner were clearly the two best players, and they fittingly met in the semi-final. Prior to this encounter, Alcaraz had convincingly bounced back from his Australian Open exit to eliminate Alexander Zverev in two sets. While some may have said that Jannik Sinner had a relatively easier run up until that point, he had made all of his wins look routine as well. In the semi-final, however, he lost to Alcaraz, who went on to win the whole tournament by beating Daniil Medvedev in the Final.

After the Indian Wells, Sinner again showed a high level of tennis by winning the Miami Open, making it two big tournaments out of four by this point. Other highlights of the Miami Open include 32-year-old Grigor Dimitrov’s comprehensive wins over Carlos Alcaraz in the quarterfinal, and then Alexander Zverev in the semifinal.

At the Monte-Carlo Masters, we saw clay-court specialist Casper Ruud go on an absolute tear, knocking out #1 seed Novak Djokovic in the process of making the final. In addition, underdog Stefanos Tsitsipas went on a miracle run, knocking out Alexander Zverev and red-hot Jannik Sinner before capping it all off with a seemingly against-the-odds victory against Ruud in the final.

The Madrid Open this year was the setting of another underdog story, which made it one of the most entertaining tournaments this year: Andrey Rublev beat out Carlos Alcaraz in the quarterfinal, while Sinner had to pull out of the match against Auger-Aliassime. The final four consisted of Fritz, Rublev, Auger-Aliassime, and Lehecka. Rublev eventually produced a comeback win in the final to claim the title.

In Rome, the “Big 2” of Alcaraz and Sinner were both not playing due to injury, meaning the title was up for grabs. However, the main contenders were Djokovic, Zverev, and Ruud with the latter two being especially lethal on clay. However, Ruud suffered a shock loss at the hands of Miomir Kecmanovic early on, while semifinalist Alejandro Tabilo beat Novak Djokovic. On the other hand, Zverev looked invincible as he steamrolled through all his opposition to win in Rome.

At this point, it was time for the prestigious French Open, the second grand slam of the year. A lot of the players felt that they were unfair and at a disadvantage because of the scheduling disaster, having some matches pushed back late and ending at only 1-2 am. Djokovic, in particular, had to play two late-night five-set grinds against Francisco Cerundolo and Lorenzo Musetti, tore his meniscus and had to retire from the match against Casper Ruud. Meanwhile, the favorites Zverev, Ruud, Sinner, and Alcaraz all had reasonable start times and made it deep into the tournament. Zverev met Ruud on one side of the bracket in the semifinal, while Alcaraz met Sinner on the other. Zverev vs. Ruud was anyone’s guess, but not after Ruud started throwing up. Zverev swiftly took care of business, propelling himself into the final at Roland-Garros. On the other side of the bracket, Alcaraz and Sinner played a five-set drag, with Alcaraz eventually coming out on top. In the final, Zverev went two sets up, but then Alcaraz fought back admirably to send it to a fifth. In the middle of the fifth, a crucial game point went the way of Alcaraz due to an incorrect call by the umpire. Zverev said after the match that he felt a bit robbed, as that game was what gave Alcaraz the momentum to win in that fifth set.

Next up was Wimbledon. The world’s most prestigious tournament had some entertaining matches, the first of which came in the round of 16. American #1 Taylor Fritz, who had had an unsuccessful season prior, beat heavy favorite Alexander Zverev in a thrilling five-set match. Then in the quarterfinals, Daniil Medvedev overcame his Australian Open final defeat to beat world #1 Jannik Sinner in five sets. Taylor Fritz failed to use his momentum properly and crashed out of Wimbledon in a five-set quarterfinal defeat to Lorenzo Musetti. Djokovic and Alcaraz both took care of their semifinals to set up a repeat of the 2023 final, though with a considerably different result. Djokovic, who had just bounced back from a meniscus tear, was crushed by Alcaraz in straight sets in the Wimbledon final. He himself said that his level was way below par.

Djokovic quickly recovered at the Olympics. The one big title Djokovic had not yet added to his trophy cabinet was an Olympic gold medal. Djokovic had made it very clear that he needed gold, and this motivation fuelled his run. He knocked out longtime rival Rafa Nadal to set up a rematch of the Wimbledon final against Carlos Alcaraz. This time, however, he triumphed in two sets in a match that will go down in history, arguably cementing himself as the GOAT.

At the Toronto Open, Jannik Sinner was eliminated by Andrey Rublev, and Alex Zverev by Sebastian Korda. This tournament was full of underdog stories, as the unseeded Alex Popyrin won his first Masters 1000 title in stunning fashion, beating Rublev in the final. He played fantastic tennis, also knocking out Hubert Hurkacz on the way.

After Toronto came the Cincinnati Open. Carlos Alcaraz suffered a shock loss to veteran Gael Monfils, while Frances Tiafoe and Holger Rune both made the semifinals. At this stage, Tiafoe beat Rune to make the final. However, he was unlucky to face a title-hungry Sinner on the other side of the net, and despite mounting a good fight, he lost the final in two sets. By this point, many were talking about Jannik Sinner’s bid to end the year as world #1.

The last major left of the year was the US Open. The players faced tough, humid conditions and temperatures above 90 degrees Fahrenheit as they battled it out in New York. Carlos Alcaraz suffered another early defeat against Botic van de Zandschulp, while emerging British talent Jack Draper made the quarterfinals, along with Alex de Minaur, who he beat to make the semifinal. Unfortunately for him, as for many players this year, he had to play Sinner. Despite throwing up in the middle of the match and clearly playing unfit, he put up a good fight but lost in three sets. Other highlights include Taylor Fritz completing yet another win over Alex Zverev and a five-set semifinal win against fellow American Frances Tiafoe to make his first-ever grand slam final. However, he was playing against none other than Jannik Sinner. Sinner made the first two sets look easy, but in the third Fritz was serving for the match at 5-3. However, we then witnessed a generational fumble which saw Fritz lose the final in straight sets, 3-6, 4-6, 5-7. This was a sad day for American tennis, as it continues to look for an American US Open champion for the first time since 2003 (Andy Roddick). However, Sinner cemented himself as one of the next greats while securing his year-end number-one finish without even having to play in the ATP finals.

The second-to-last Masters 1000, in Shanghai, finished just a few weeks ago. The highlights from this tournament include David Goffin beating Alex Zverev, Tomas Machac knocking out Carlos Alcaraz, and Djokovic making the final after beating Fritz. Jannik Sinner faced Djokovic in the final and won yet again, 7-6 (4), 6-3.

At the time of writing, the last Masters 1000 (Paris Masters) and the ATP finals have both not yet finished. However, we do have a list of breakout players this year, along with their achievements:

#1 – Jannik Sinner – 7 titles – US Open, Australian Open, Halle Open, Miami Open, Shanghai Masters, Cincinnati Open, Rotterdam Open – “best in the world” according to our CCS Singles Champion ‘24 Anton Lim

#2 – Jack Draper – 2 titles – Stuttgart Open, Vienna Open, knocked out Carlos Alcaraz at the Queen’s Club Championships, US Open Semifinalist

#3 – Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard – 2 titles – Swiss Indoors Basel, Lyon Open (debut title), currently leading server on ATP tour stat board

Overall, this year was very important for the sport because we witnessed Nadal’s retirement, and it marked the first year since 2002 that none of the Big 3 won a slam. This marks the start of a new “Big 2” era, likely with Sinner and Alcaraz at the top as things stand.

That’s the recap for this year, and thanks so much for reading!