With the tennis season now on hiatus (apart from a few events on the ITF and Challenger tour, we take a look at what happened during the 2024 season. There are always plenty of movers in the rankings, but for everyone that rises, another must fall.
We’re going to take a look at some of the women on the WTA Tour, who have taken a metaphoric tumble down the rankings ladder this year.
Ons Jabeur
Ranked 6 at the end of 2023, it was expected by most pundits, that Jabeur would somewhat hold her position, or at the very least, be hanging around the top 10. However, at the conclusion of the 2024 season, the Tunisian finds herself down to 42, and out of the Grand Slam seedings, which should make for an interesting draw at the Australian Open.
Of course, injury has played a major part in the decline, with Jabeur not playing a match since Toronto in August, due to a shoulder injury. A knee complaint also derailed any early season momentum, meaning 2024 has been pretty much a write off. We would expect her to come back strong in 2025, but you just never know.
Marketa Vondrousova
Slipping from No.7 to No.39 in the rankings over the last 12 months was not totally unexpected for Vondrousova, after winning the 2023 Wimbledon title. This year was always going to be hard to back up, but a 1st round exit was the worst possible result, coming off the back of a hip injury in the lead up. Add that to the same result in Melbourne, and a hand injury which forced her to miss the whole back-end of the season, and she finds herself in a similar boat to Jabeur. If she gets her body right, expect a move back up towards the top 10.
Veronika Kudermetova
Dropping from inside the top 20 (19) down to 77, Kudermetova has had the biggest fall of any player in the top 100. The downside (or upside, depending on how you look at it) for her, is that there was no major injury which forced her to miss large chunks of the season. It appears as though she was just terribly out of form during 2024. In her last 5 majors, Kutermetova is yet to win a match, and a win/loss of 16/25 this year, isn’t going to cut it. Compare that with a 34/22 record in 2023. If she can re-capture that form in 2025, she can push back up, but it’s hard to see it at the moment.
Karolina Muchova
Another injury enforced drop in the rankings, with the Czech player not even getting on tour until the grass court season, due to a wrist operation. It’s actually unfair to put her in this list, as she was one of the best players in the second half of the year, and if she’s not in the top 10 with a full schedule in 2025, I would be absolutely stunned.
Martina Trevisan
The Italian had a couple of successful years before 2024, finishing the last 2 years ranked 28 and 43. But currently, she finds herself well outside the top 100, at 126. Trevisan is another who has played a full season, and her drop in form seemingly came quite quickly. Having played 10 tournaments this year at a Slam/1000 level, she has only 1 win to her name. Compare that with the previous year, when she had 10 wins from the same number of events. However, being part of the Billie Jean Cup winning team, may be the spark she needs heading into next year. On the other hand, at age 31, perhaps we’ve seen the best of Trevisan.
Sofia Kenin
After a solid year last year that saw the 2020 Australian Open champion come back from a massive rankings drop, and injury in 2022, much was expected of the American in 2024. Sadly for her and her fans, it didn’t quite eventuate, with a drop from No.33, down to No.83. Reaching the final of the Tokyo 500 event was the clear standout, in a year which yielded just 15 wins from 23 tournaments. It would be great to see Kenin have a big start to the year. Since she won in Melbourne, she has only won a single match in the 4 years since!
Caroline Dolehide
After a big year in 2023, which saw a rankings jump of 130 places to finish in No.42, this season was always going to be a bit of a test. Could she consolidate her position in the top 50, continue the rise, or would it go south? While it certainly wasn’t a horrible season, drifting back to No.80, starts to push her out of the top tier events, meaning it becomes harder to get back into the top 50. At 36 years of age, there’s plenty of time, and with a semi-final appearance at the Washington 500, and a runner-up at the Guangzhou 250, she’s proven the talent is still there.
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