ANALYSIS: Men's Winners and Losers 2024 Wimbledon including Djokovic, Alcaraz, Musetti, Sinner and Draper
ATPThursday, 18 July 2024 at 11:23
The Wimbledon Championships are arguably the most prestigious tennis event in the world, and it ended a few days ago. We now have a chance to zoom out and see how some of the biggest tennis stars in the world did, so let’s see who the winners and losers of this event are.
Winners - Carlos Alcaraz - Two-time Wimbledon Champ
We have to start with Carlos Alcaraz, who made Wimbledon the first Grand Slam he’s won twice. For a player who spent very little time on grass growing up, that’s an incredible achievement. His list of incredible achievements is very long, as the Spaniard has now won four Grand Slam trophies at the age of 21.
Only a handful of players have ever achieved that, and it just shows how special of a player he is. Confirming it with another trophy run in London is why he’s arguably the biggest winner of this year’s event; the impact on his legacy will be huge.
Novak Djokovic - The unyielding legend
Novak Djokovic might have failed to win Wimbledon for a second consecutive year, but the Serbian leaves London a winner. He had knee surgery just a few weeks ago, and getting to the final here proved that he’s not done. Considering that much of the story around him this year has been about whether ‘he’s done’, this was a resounding no.
This result is a testament that he still has plenty to give to tennis, which was seriously in doubt for much of this year. The quick recovery also confirmed that his body is still strong enough for the highest level of tennis, and that’s a huge confidence booster. Albeit it ended in failure, the overall sentiment is that Djokovic is leaving London in a much better standing than he arrived in.
Novak Djokovic leaves London with a lot of credit.
Lorenzo Musetti - A Major Breakout
Lorenzo Musetti was always considered a huge talent capable of great things, but very few thought that his maiden Grand Slam semi-final would happen at Wimbledon. He was not known as a grass player, but his level this year has been really impressive across the board.
He’s certainly taken a step forward, which is why he’s up to 29 wins already this year, just four shy of his total of 33 last year. He’s on the cusp of entering the Top 20 and who knows where his limits are. Runs like this at Wimbledon will give him confidence, and even the Top 5 doesn’t seem completely out of reach.
Tommy Paul - American No. 1
Tommy Paul has been around for a while, but recently, the American has really taken it up a notch. He’s played fantastic tennis on grass this year and made a really good run at Wimbledon. He’s now the American number one and not likely to lose it anytime soon.
Paul is simply playing at a higher level than ever before. With that level and new-found consistency, he could throw himself into the mix for the Top 10 and possibly even contend for big trophies. The American will be a problem at the US Open if he keeps this level.
Arthur Fils & Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard - The French Future
A couple of French youngsters did really well at Wimbledon, as both of them made the 4th round. Fils is a better-known player, as he’s had a few good performances in the past, but even his big-serving compatriot proved that he’s here to stay.
Their runs benefitted from their style of play and the fact that Wimbledon is a grass event, but these are a couple of names to watch out for in the coming months as both have proved to be outstanding players on the come up.
Losers
Jannik Sinner - Number 1 but only in Rankings
Jannik Sinner's Wimbledon experience wasn’t terrible, but he’s still one of the losers, as he didn’t amaze the way some people thought he might. Sinner has been tremendous this year and was the top seed in London, which is why many expected him in the final, at least.
Another reason people saw him in the final is his much-improved serve, but he greatly disappointed by losing to Daniil Medvedev, against whom he dominated recently. Unfortunately, he wasn’t feeling very good that day, so he has an excuse, but overall, it’s still a huge disappointment.
Holger Rune - No improvement on the horizon
Holger Rune isn’t known as a particularly great grass player, so him not really going too deep in the draw isn’t a huge surprise. What is problematic is his lack of improvement. While we see his peers Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz taking steps further, the Danish player seems stuck.
He had a solid chance of playing a statement match against Novak Djokovic in the fourth round but completely flopped, losing comfortably in three sets. Seeing how easily Alcaraz dealt with Djokovic shows how far Rune has to go to be among the best in the world.
Question marks continue over Holger Rune.
Andrey Rublev - What’s going on?
Andrey Rublev has had a very bizarre year, with some brilliant moments but also some very weird losses. Grass isn’t his best surface, but the Russian never looked as bad on it as he did at this year’s Wimbledon. Losing early is one thing, but losing to a player ranked outside of the Top 100 who played only one match on grass before that one?
Yeah, that’s a pretty big yikes, especially since he nearly lost his mind during the match. Odd times for Rublev, who apparently is still battling the effects of his illness from Madrid, which is concerning as this level will see him drop out of the Top 10 if it continues.
Jack Draper - Too much pressure?
Jack Draper arrived in London as one of the dark horse candidates to go deep in the event because he played some amazing tennis leading up to it. He won the Stuttgart Open and bested Carlos Alcaraz in Queen’s, but then he also played a pretty dreadful Wimbledon.
Needing five sets to beat Elias Ymer is not great, and getting beaten as easily as he did by Cameron Norrie, who himself hasn’t played that well lately, is certainly not that great either. Did the pressure get to him, or was it simply a one-off? The coming months will provide an answer, but it was still a huge let-down overall.
Christopher Eubanks - Out of the Top 100
Christopher Eubanks had the best moment of his career at last year’s Wimbledon, where he made the quarter-final in a major breakout. He won the Breakout Player Award at Wimbledon and had a tremendous jump in the rankings, which opened up so many opportunities for him.
This year was the opposite: Quentin Halys beat him in the first round, and he’s now out of the Top 100. It’s a drop of 66 spots on the ATP Rankings to number 128. Much like his performance last year opened many chances up for him, this year’s performance closed most of them.
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