Welcome back, everyone, and happy 2024. We hope the year is not merely new but improved.
We’ll start Australian Open preview coverage next week. But this week, with a nod to Nick K.—columnist and former gubernatorial candidate Kristof, not episodically committed tennis player Kyrgios—let’s start with a game of predictions for the new year.
We can revisit in 11-plus months and see how we all performed. My answers are in bold.
Related: New Year, New Promise: SI's Predictions for 2024
In 2024 …
Tennis will:
a. Survive and advance, despite some inevitable high-profile retirements and the usual political in-fighting.
b. Figure out how to avail itself to Saudi Arabia capital while avoiding a LIV-style tectonic shift and the SuperTour currently being discussed.
c. Come to grips with the fact that it is a popular sport with gamblers—which brings about a host of issues and potential revenue.
d. Realize its fractured nature and in-fighting is making the pie smaller for everyone.
e. All of the above.
Erick W. Rasco/Sports Illustrated
Novak Djokovic will:
a. Win the Grand Slam.
b. Not win the Grand Slam but find success at the Paris Olympics, the lone gap on his résumé.
c. Suffer a significant decline/body breakdown as one might expect of a 37-year-old athlete.
d. Suffer a 2017-like swoon.
Iga Świątek will:
a. Continue her transcendent tennis and retain the top spot, causing more casual fans to appreciate her greatness.
b. Succumb to the pressure of stardom, address dynamics within her camp and relinquish her top status.
c. Let her tennis slide but ramp up her off-court profile launching signature NFTs, a production studio, a political podcast, a branded CBD oil and a sports gaming partnership.
d. Win the Australian Open and abruptly retire on top.
Carlos Alcaraz will:
a. Emerge refreshed after his second-half swoon (no titles since Wimbledon) and reassert himself by winning the Australian Open.
b. Battle injuries and fissuring confidence, struggling to escape the momentum of his slump.
c. Have a year akin to his 2023—one major, some stretches of “this is the next generational talent” and some stretches of “there is still some seasoning required.”
d. Take a surprise sabbatical to launch a signature line of bucket hats.
Erick W. Rasco/Sports Illustrated
Coco Gauff will:
a. Ascend to No. 1, the greatness spigot having been tapped at the 2023 U.S. Open.
b. Slide a bit, pulled in too many directions.
c. Continue winning and remain in the top five, but also continue to lose matches on account of that recalcitrant forehand.
d. Finish the year with Brad Gilbert still her primary coach.
Rafael Nadal (who turns 38 this year) will:
a. Return to winning majors, breathing unexpected life back into the GOAT debate.
b. Leave for Australia on Christmas Day, come to the dispiriting conclusion that his body isn’t up for it and announce his retirement before the Australian Open—karmic payback for Craig Tiley’s hasty announcement.
c. Soldier through the spring and use Roland Garros as a retirement platform.
d. Limit his schedule but play encouragingly well and continue through the Paris Olympics (held, of course, at Roland Garros).
This player will—perhaps after the Paris Olympics and at the U.S. Open— join the ranks of the retired:
a. Rafael Nadal
b. Venus Williams
c. Andy Murray
d. Simona Halep
e. Petra Kvitová
f. Stan Wawrinka
g. Karolína Plišková
h. All of the above
Related: Coco Gauff: The Breakthrough of 2023
The WTA will:
a. Reach a deal with the ATP under the Tennis Ventures umbrella, an acquisition masquerading as something touted as “commercial aggregation.”
b. End up moving its embattled year-end event to Saudi Arabia, despite protests of former champions and a competitive bid from a Czech promoter.
c. Deal with its “quiet quitting” issue—so many players who should be in their prime years, failing to find joy and fulfillment, and taking time off or leaving the sport entirely.
d. Hire a female CEO.
e. All of the above.
Peng Shuai will:
a. Announce a tennis comeback.
b. Escape China, buy Jelena Janković’s San Diego home and become an outspoken dissident against authoritarianism, censorship and autocracy.
c. Become an honorary tournament director, a show of good faith now that the WTA has backpedaled (as if chasing down a topspin lob) and returned to China.
d. Remain largely forgotten and unmentioned—out of sight, out of mind—despite the fact that her mysterious situation barely two years ago has played an outsized role shaping the finances and future of the WTA.
Dave Rowland/Getty Images
Emma Raducanu will:
a. Win a second major.
b. Remain a tennis cipher, bedeviled by injury and an overbearing dad.
c. Return to the WTA and, benefiting from wild cards, reestablish herself as a credible top 100 player, capable of the occasionally stirring win.
d. Retire and apply early to Stanford, class of 2028.
The highest-ranked Canadian player, male or female, will be:
a. Bianca Andreescu
b. Leylah Fernandez
c. Felix Auger Aliassime
d. Denis Shapovalov
The highest-ranked American woman will be:
a. Coco Gauff
b. Madison Keys
c. Sloane Stephens
d. Jessica Pegula
Related: 23 for ’23: Novak Djokovic Finally Settles the Men’s Tennis GOAT Debate
The highest-ranked American man will be:
a. Ben Shelton
b. Taylor Fritz, again
c. Frances Tiafoe
d. Tommy Paul
e. Sebastian Korda
f. Other
The ATP player to win his first major will be:
a. Casper Ruud
b. Stefanos Tsitsipas
c. Jannik Sinner
d. Nick Kyrgios
e. Other
f. No one
The WTA player to win her first major will be:
a. Jessica Pegula
b. Maria Sakkari
c. Ons Jabeur
d. None of the above
Related: Year in Review: SI’s Favorite Moments of 2023
This male player will finish 2024 ranked No. 1:
a. Novak Djokovic
b. Jannik Sinner
c. Carlos Alcaraz
d. Daniil Medvedev
e. Other
This female player will finish 2024 ranked No. 1:
a. Caroline Garcia
b. Naomi Osaka
c. Iga Świątek
d. Ons Jabeur
e. Other
Naomi Osaka will:
a. Rediscover her groove and love of the game, and return to No. 1.
b. Continue to make a considerable impact irrespective of her results, and gracefully balance work and motherhood.
c. Announce her retirement.
d. Have a harder time than perhaps she anticipated getting back to being a full-time player.
