ATP Top 50 Season Review

Tennis is not an easy sport to cover. There are hundreds of players to keep an eye on, each with their own storylines as the season progresses. The season is also one of the longest of any professional sport, meaning it can be just as exhausting covering tennis, as it is to play it.

Wrapping up a season in a comprehensive way, ensuring everyone is covered is nigh on impossible. So we’ve decided to summarise the season of each top 50 ATP players in one sentence. Short and sweet.

1. Sinner – Reached the pinnacle on court, and then stumbled badly off it
2. Zverev – Consistent performer all year, but can’t yet get it done on the biggest stages
3. Alcaraz – The clay/grass double, yet somehow seemed to go under the radar
4. Fritz – Doesn’t mind picking the occasional fight, and often wins them
5. Medvedev – Still a consistent performer, but couldn’t lift a trophy
6. Ruud – Won the biggest title of his career, finished top 6, but still doesn’t seem to get any respect
7. Djokovic – Finally got the missing piece of his career, and didn’t give a **** about anything else
8. Rublev – Needs more time on the therapy couch than on the court
9. De Minaur – Defied all expectations
10. Dimitrov – Ageing like a fine wine
11. Tsitsipas – Dominated April, but was never a threat in the other 11 months
12. Paul – Any time a player can quadruple their career titles in a year, it’s a damn good season!
13. Rune – In cricketing terms, ‘got plenty of starts, but couldn’t go in with it’…
14. Humbert – Makes 4 finals, including a Masters event, wins 250 and 500. Who saw that coming?
15. Draper – Will be remembered for a shank volley, but had a very good year
16. Hurkacz – Solid year, but unspectacular….kind of like his game
17. Musetti – Jumped 10 places, and won an Olympic medal. Have to be happy with that
18. Tiafoe – Needs a full year North American tour
19. Khachanov – Found a way to salvage a season that was heading nowhere
20. Fils – Two 500 titles, and into the top 20. On the rise!
21. Shelton – Not quite ready to take on the big boys yet…
22. Korda – Started slow, and finished the season early, but in between, played some very good tennis
23. Tabilo – Excellent year, rising almost 60 places, and winning his first titles of his career
24. Popyrin – The most unlikely Masters winner in a long time, but fully deserved
25. Machac – Dream year…made his first ATP final, jumped 50 spots, and beat Novak Djokovic
26. Thompson – Great season on the hard courts
27. Baez – Needs a longer South American swing!
28. Lehecka – Two titles, top 10 wins, and a victory over Nadal in Madrid. Can build on that
29. Auger–Aliassime – Back in some form, and a very good sport!
30. Cerundolo – Untrustable away from the red dirt
31. Mpetshi–Perricard – Moving very fast up the rankings, but the season caught up with him
32. Cobolli – Reached a 500 final, had some big wins over top 20 players, and rocketed up the rankings
33. Borges – Beat Nadal in a clay court final to win his first title. Nothing else really mattered.
34. Bublik – Does the bare minimum to hold his position in the top 40
35. Berrettini – He’s back. Wins 3 titles, and will be the most dangerous unseeded player at the Aust Open.
36. Jarry – One good week in Rome made his season look respectable, but really, it wasn’t great
37. Arnaldi – We know there’s plenty of talent there, but he hasn’t strung it together for a consistent period
38. Nakashima – Had the breakout year we all hoped he would at some stage
39. Etcheverry – Feel like he should be winning a lot more matches than he does
40. Griekspoor – Rarely gets beaten comprehensively, but needs to turn close losses into wins
41. Martinez – Used the Challenger tour perfectly to climb back up the rankings
42. Michelson – Solid year on the tennis front, but might need to mature a little
43. Struff – Finally won his first title…and on home soil!
44. Darderi – Made a big move this year, and won his first title, from qualifying (Cordoba)
45. Zhang – Makes a final (in China), reaches a career high ranking, and has wins over top 20 players
46. Giron – Holds steady in the rankings, but more importantly, won his first ever ATP title
47. Navone – Rolled into 2024 as he finished 2023 – on fire – but the second half of the season fell away badly
48. Mensik – Still a teenager, yet will be contending for Slams soon if his trajectory continues
49. Norrie – Missed a large chunk of the year, and could never quite re-capture his best
50. Shang – Jumps over 100 places, wins his first title in his home country of China, and is 19 years old…the sponsors will be falling over themselves

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