The 2024 tennis season is done and dusted, with the big winners and losers clearly defined in the final weeks of a hectic year.
Jannik Sinner’s final shot of an eventful year saw Italy regain the Davis Cup in convincing fashion in Malaga, with Carlos Alcaraz’s stunning season seeing him emerge victorious at the French Open and Wimbledon.
Alexander Zverev ends the year as world No 2 after showing impressive consistency, Rafael Nadal’s retirement coming in a year that also saw the exits of Grand Slam champions Andy Murray and Dominic Thiem.
In the women’s game, Aryna Sabalenka was the queen of the court as she claimed two Grand Slam titles and ended the year as world No 1.
Her nearest rival was Iga Swiatek, but the Pole struggled to hit the heights in the second half of 2024 as Coco Gauff claimed the WTA Finals title in
Saudi Arabia and China’s Zheng Qinwen finished the year on a real high with some stunning performances.
What comes next is a question all tennis fans are now asking and here are some bold predictions for 2025.
Will world No 1 Jannik Sinner get banned from tennis after his failed drug tests last March?
The jury appeared to have cast their verdict in this story as Sinner was allowed to continue his career after a judgement from the International Tennis Integrity Agency accepted his version of events that the banned substance clostebol got into his system by accident and was not a performance-enhancing substance.
The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) have appealed that verdict and is pushing for a two-year ban for Sinner and if the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) sides with WADA, Sinner is likely to face a suspension from tennis.
The length of that ban may not be the full two years, with the tiny amount of clostebol in Sinner’s system unlikely to have had a performance-enhancing impact.
Yet if the verdict was CAS came in on Sinner in early 2025, he could face a six-month suspension that would take him out of the final three Grand Slams of the year and see his world ranking plummet.
It would also be a huge scar on his image and reputation, with the Italian’s lawyers certain to be doing all they can to avoid that fate.
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