From Swiatek to Medvedev: Who are the top-ranked players taking part in World Tennis League 2024?

This year, the players have found themselves busier than ever, thanks to the inclusion of the Olympic tennis event on the schedule and the fact that matches are running longer and longer. Meanwhile the ATP have extended Masters 1000 tournaments to two weeks and the WTA have bumped up the number of mandatory events from four to 10. 2023 has been an amazing year in tennis, complete with record-setting performances on both the men’s and women’s sides. From Novak Djokovic putting his 24th grand slam title in the record books to Coco Gauff’s US Open finals three-set stunner, fans were treated to moments that will go down in history. Winners of the men’s singles and doubles grand slam tournaments receive 2,000 points with the runner-up receiving 1,300 points.

For Jannik Sinner and the sport he dominates, this is a nightmare spiralling out of control

But such restrictions could potentially be classed as restraint of trade if a legal challenge were to be launched. Already this season, we have seen proposals for a streamlined “Premium Tour” peter out, while cases of player burn-out proliferate, and matches increasingly extend into the small hours of the morning. Frustration is building within both the men’s and women’s locker rooms. The PTPA’s central point is that the average tennis player remains overworked and underpaid by the standards of global sport. Although the ATP and WTA Tours have staved off the spectre of a LIV-style breakaway, mainly by granting official events to Saudi Arabia, it now seems as though revolution could come from within.

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Novak Djokovic is the current world number 1 in the ATP rankings, with Novak currently holding the record for most weeks as the No.1 in men’s tennis. As the season draws to a close, the live rankings become more important as they reflect where a player will finish the year in the ATP Rankings. The ATP rankings determine which tournaments a player can enter and their seeding. For example, Carlos Alcaraz is known as the World No. 1 because he sits in first place in the Rankings. Casper Ruud is known as a Top 10 player because he is No. 4 in the Rankings.

Who has spent the most consecutive weeks at number 1 in men’s tennis?

The World Tennis League on Friday unveiled a star-studded lineup of players, featuring two Olympic gold medallists and five Grand Slam champions for its third season. The protected ranking gives a player a spot in the rankings determined by the player’s average ATP Rankings position during the first three months of his injury. With 2024 NFL training camps on the horizon, the league’s true insiders made their voices heard.

Aryna Sabalenka

• “It keeps happening every single time they play. They come up with suspense, they come up with entertainment.”
• You can follow it on television, but when you’re sitting courtside and trying to follow the ball it’s impossible.
• That’s something I’d like to take from them, as well as being able to perform under all the pressure and circumstances they face on any given day.
• The following year, Djokovic finally seized the top spot, with a combined $38.4 million in on-court and estimated off-court earnings.
• However, this does not mean that players who play the most tournaments will be ranked the highest as there is a max of 19 tournaments that goes into the calculation of a player’s ranking.
• He struggled in this year’s French Open, however, falling to defending Olympic gold medalist Alexander Zverev in the first round.
• Knight joined Forbes in 2017 and previously served as the assistant managing editor for contributors—overseeing the website’s network of nearly 3,000 freelance writers and the editors working with them—and as the deputy business editor.
• Stefanos Tsitsipas has a massive 1.8 million follower count on Instagram, where the 25-year-old Greek phenom is known for posting pictures of his travels and more.
• After a bright 2022, Nakashima suffered a lost year of sorts.

Open tune-up and climbing back to No. 2 in the singles rankings. Open as the betting favorite, looking to improve on 2023’s runner-up finish. Away from tennis, she recently reeled in endorsements with açaí bowl chain Oakberry and Master & Dynamic headphones. Gauff’s major breakthrough with a singles championship at the 2023 U.S.

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16 spots of the 128-person field are reserved for professionals or amateurs who win three matches in the qualifying tournament. No qualifier entry has ever gone on to win the US Open until 2021 when 18-year-old Emma Raducanu did just that, claiming the Grand Slam title in dominating fashion without dropping a set the entire tournament. Since then, Radacanu has fallen out of the top 200, but she’s planning her return next year. Ben Shelton is a rising star who brings power, agility, and fearlessness to the game. Shelton’s elite serve speeds—which have hit as high as 149 mph during tournament play—draw gasps from the audience and racket claps from opponents.

Will Novak Djokovic play at the 2024 Olympics?

Navarro won just one Slam match, but she finished the year on the brink of the top 30 thanks to steadily awesome performances at minor events. She reached seven ITF finals (with five titles) and won 64 of a grueling 88 matches. She also beat two top-15 players, Maria Sakkari and Keys, in September. Her serve needs work, but Pegula might be the only American with a better return game.

Rafael Nadal

Their mental capacity to do that and to be able to stay focused is unreal. That’s something I’d like to take from them, as well as being able to perform under all the pressure and circumstances they face on any given day. He created history at Tokyo 2020, becoming the first Australian in 53 years to qualify for an Olympic men’s 800-metre final. The players’ association founded by Novak Djokovic is weighing up a programme of legal challenges that could reshape the world game. In 2020, Kenin won the Australian Open and finished the year fourth in the world; she finished 2022 at 228th. After her career was derailed by injuries and vanishing form, Kenin stubbornly found herself again in 2023, beating Gauff at Wimbledon and Sabalenka in Rome and, in San Diego in September, reaching her first tour final since the 2020 French Open.

‘Players have most to win and most to lose’

But he’s also only 26, and if his now-lengthy injury history was more bad luck than a sign of things to come, he’s got plenty of time to again establish himself as a top-30 or so presence. He checked that one off at the Australian Open, his second Slam. The ultra-athletic, 6-foot-4 Shelton might have the most upside in the American player pool. The tour adjusted to him in the spring and summer, and he found another gear in the fall. When health, form and motivation all collide, Stephens remains a tough out.

Team USA tennis players for 2024 Olympics

Current world number one ranked player, Sabalenka has been taking women’s tennis by storm with her powerful and aggressive style of play. The 25-year-old Belarusian is a hard worker with an even harder groundstroke. Sabalenka made it to at least the semi-finals in all four of the Grand Slam appearances in 2023, and is a name you’ll be sure to see at the top of leaderboards time and time again.

Men’s Tennis ATP Rankings

His runner-up finish in Melbourne also gave him records for the most sets played at a Grand Slam tournament (31) and the most time spent on court (24 hours 17 minutes). An avid gamer, Medvedev has partnerships with HyperX gaming headsets and game makers EA Sports and Ubisoft, and he joined the ownership group of esports organization M80 last year. Since turning pro in 2003, Novak Djokovic has piled up a record 24 Grand Slam singles titles, staking his claim as tennis’ greatest of all time. But no matter how many titles he won, he never ranked higher than No. 2 on the list of the sport’s highest-paid players—until Roger Federer’s retirement in 2022. The following year, Djokovic finally seized the top spot, with a combined $38.4 million in on-court and estimated off-court earnings.

News and Events

Taylor Fritz basically ended the year where he started from a rankings standpoint and couldn’t turn a top-10 ranking into sustained threats in Grand Slams. Frances Tiafoe dipped his toe into the ATP top 10 but suffered a major funk at the end of the year. Sebastian Korda seemed primed for a breakthrough but missed months with an injury. Jenson Brooksby was suspended for 18 months for missed drug tests. In another promising sign for the state of tennis, the average age of this year’s top 10 is 26, with only Djokovic and 38-year-old Rafael Nadal (No. 6, $23.3 million) outside their 20s. Monastir champion Sonay Kartal and Guadalajara finalist Olivia Gadecki have become the 15th and 16th players to break the Top 100 for the first time in 2024.

Both players and their teams boarded the same private plane from Beijing to Shanghai, to prepare for the Masters 1000 event. Alcaraz improved to 6-4 in his career against Sinner after their 10th meeting in what has become tennis’ top rivalry following the 60 matches between Nadal and Djokovic. Novak Djokovic is the most decorated men’s tennis player in history when it comes to Grand Slams, but he will be chasing a career first in Paris. Draws for the five tennis events at the 2024 Olympics were announced on Thursday, July 25, the day before the Opening Ceremony.

Jannik Sinner confident in avoiding doping ban after WADA appeal

• Nadal hasn’t set an official date for his retirement—“I’m not in a hurry to make a decision about my future,” he recently told Spanish newspaper Marca—but it’s clear the end is near for the legendary Spaniard, who withdrew from the U.S.
• The tour adjusted to him in the spring and summer, and he found another gear in the fall.
• But such restrictions could potentially be classed as restraint of trade if a legal challenge were to be launched.
• Before coming to Forbes, Knight worked in sports and business news as an editor at the New York Times.
• It was cool getting to walk onto Rod Laver Arena and be part of a different sport.
• Known as “Queen Wen” to her fans, Qinwen Zheng has been befuddling opponents with her signature high-spinning forehand and powerful serve.

But he also lost four straight matches at one point during the American summer swing and dropped back out of the top 50. The 6-footer has a slightly less consistent version of Paul’s game, but he can mix it up with just about anyone outside the top 10. Paul made the most of a favorable Australian Open draw to charge to the semis, then pulled off his best win of the season — a three-setter over Carlos Alcaraz — to reach the semifinals in Toronto. He might have the best return game of any American, but at 6-foot-1 his service game isn’t nearly as big.

• Sinner’s rollercoaster year took a dip this month when it was revealed he tested positive for a banned steroid in March and had to forfeit the prize money and ranking points he had earned at the Indian Wells tournament.
• The Entry Protection status gives players entry into the main draw or qualifying competition or for special exempt consideration.
• Foot and knee injuries kept her off the tour for nearly two straight years, but in six summer/fall events she managed to beat three top-30 opponents and nearly toppled Elena Rybakina in Montreal.
• The PTPA has mostly stayed out of the headlines for the past five years, concentrating on building its infrastructure, offering player services and benefits, and raising revenue via trading cards and computer games.
• The World Tennis League on Friday unveiled a star-studded lineup of players, featuring two Olympic gold medallists and five Grand Slam champions for its third season.
• But a wrist injury there knocked him out for most of four months, and he won only one Slam match the rest of the year.
• And Nassar believes that change is possible, despite the chaotic and internecine struggles that usually pass for tennis politics.
• The official rankings are updated every Monday, except during the middle of Grand Slam tournaments and Miami + Indian Wells.

But she went against everyone else on tour, with two top-10 wins and four quarterfinal appearances. She is managing a number of chronic issues and doesn’t play a ton of events, but at worst she should remain a constant bracket-buster candidate in any tournament. On-court earnings figures reflect prize money and Olympic medal bonuses collected over the last 12 months, dating to the 2023 U.S. The list includes athletes active during the 12-month time period. Known as “Queen Wen” to her fans, Qinwen Zheng has been befuddling opponents with her signature high-spinning forehand and powerful serve. The 25-year-old from China relies on her speed to control points from serve, and has shown a lot of promise in her young career.

With 24 Grand Slam titles to his name, Djokovic has achieved unmatched success. Talks of retirement for the 36-year-old Serbian have quieted down as Djokovic boasts peak form while the next gen of players seek to take his throne. Federer’s record run of weeks at number 1 started on the 2nd of February 2004 just after he won his second grand slam at the 2004 Australian Open and lasted until the 17th of August 2008, with Rafael Nadal replacing him as number 1. The winners of challenger tournaments receive between 50 and 175 points depending on the level of the tournament, with runners up receiving between 30 and 100 points. Note there are some changes for 2024, with more points on offer in many tournaments; for example, a finalist at ATP 500 level now gets 330 points, compared to the previous 300.

Challenger Tournaments

She played nine matches against top-20 opponents in 2023 and either beat them or took them to three sets five times. But she also lost 10 matches to players outside of the top 50. The 2017 US Open champion remains a threat in any match, but she still struggles to string good performances together. Collins was beset by unlucky draws in 2023, finishing seven of her 18 tournaments against Swiatek, Pegula or Rybakina.

As Nassar told Telegraph Sport, tennis’s ongoing inertia is a far bigger problem for the players than it is for the various powerbrokers – most of whom are too busy with day-to-day firefighting to look at the sport as a whole. It might be presumptuous putting the teenager here instead of more established players such as Mackenzie McDonald or Marcos Giron. The big-serving, 6-foot-4 Michelsen took down both McDonald and John Isner on his way to the Newport finals in July. Success on the challenger and futures circuits bumped him into the top 100 and earned him a spot in the year-end NextGen finals. We talk a lot about ceilings in a piece like this, and for a while it felt as if Gauff had found hers. She spent most of a year ranked either seventh or eighth in the world, and from August 2021 through May 2023, she went just 3-15 against top-10 opponents.

With a game style that has been described as a mix of Nadal and Federer, Holger Rune is part of the younger cohort leading the charge of the next generation of elite players. Rune, who turned pro in 2020, has four career titles, including the 2022 ATP Masters in Paris and the 2023 BMW Open in Munich, and is currently ranked sixth in the world. Jessica Pegula spent much of her early career battling on the lower ITF circuit, taking 11 years after turning pro to break into the top 100. Her determination and precision on the court, as well as the experience she has gained with her doubles partner Coco Gauff, have paid off. The 29-year-old American is now the fifth-ranked player in the world, holding four WTA singles titles and seven doubles titles.

• ESPN surveyed league executives, coaches and scouts to help us rank the top 10 players at 11 different positions, from quarterback to cornerback and all positions in between.
• Medvedev has a single Grand Slam win—in Flushing Meadows in 2021—but he has reached five other major finals, including the 2019 and 2023 U.S.
• The big-serving, 6-foot-4 Michelsen took down both McDonald and John Isner on his way to the Newport finals in July.
• I can be fast running in a straight line, but being agile is pretty hard.
• With 24 Grand Slam titles to his name, Djokovic has achieved unmatched success.
• He created history at Tokyo 2020, becoming the first Australian in 53 years to qualify for an Olympic men’s 800-metre final.
• Navarro won just one Slam match, but she finished the year on the brink of the top 30 thanks to steadily awesome performances at minor events.
• He spent much of the year battling a nagging knee injury; after ranking in the mid-40s for most of the spring, he found himself in the 150s in October.

“I hope Roger, Novak, and Rafa are not listening, but in terms of level, when Sinner and Alcaraz are at their best, there is no way anyone has ever played better tennis. She reached the third round in her first Olympics and is coming off a second-round defeat to eventual champion Iga Swiatek at Wimbledon. The ATP Rankings system is the method used by the Association of Tennis Professionals to see who should qualify and who should be seeded in the different singles and doubles ATP Tournaments held all across the world.

• This list is intended to celebrate the skill, persistence, and flair of these athletes while also appreciating the transformative effect they have had on the game we love.
• The ATP Rankings system is the method used by the Association of Tennis Professionals to see who should qualify and who should be seeded in the different singles and doubles ATP Tournaments held all across the world.
• Talks of retirement for the 36-year-old Serbian have quieted down as Djokovic boasts peak form while the next gen of players seek to take his throne.
• The players also complain that the four slams are paying roughly 14 to 16 per cent of their annual income out in prize money, whereas franchise sports in the USA – such as basketball – return around 50 per cent of their income to the players.
• Meanwhile, Daniil Medvedev and Andrey Rublev, who were part of the WTL 2023 title-winning team PBG Eagles, will compete again at the competition, along with 2024 US Open runner-up Taylor Fritz, Hubert Hurkacz and Casper Ruud.
• She also beat two top-15 players, Maria Sakkari and Keys, in September.
• The PTPA’s central point is that the average tennis player remains overworked and underpaid by the standards of global sport.
• With lightning-fast court speed, pinpoint accuracy from the baseline and a devious drop shot, Alcaraz has few, if any, weaknesses in his game as one of the most exciting players around.

Djokovic, a familiar name to tennis enthusiasts, continues his legacy as one of the greatest with his superior strategy and unmatched consistency. Meanwhile, Sinner delights fans with his athletic prowess, striking winners from every corner of the court. The story of the summer, Eubanks reached the quarterfinals in Miami, then produced a 14-4 record on grass, winning in Mallorca and beating Stefanos Tsitsipas on the way to the Wimbledon quarterfinals. The self-proclaimed “worst athlete in the family” appeared to be on his own mega-breakthrough in 2023 after dominating Daniil Medvedev on his way to the Australian Open quarterfinals. But a wrist injury there knocked him out for most of four months, and he won only one Slam match the rest of the year. He won 10 of 12 at one point in the fall, however, and his game is the most well rounded of any of the other “young, big-serving American” prototypes.

The second table is the live rankings; this showcases real-time rankings of a player’s position in the race to finish in the Top 8 for the season-ending ATP and WTA Finals. They are updated frequently each week, and players can jump around spots daily. But starting with his US Open quarterfinal defeat to Shelton, he lost five of seven and dropped his last six sets of the year. Since winning four of five against top-10 opponents in 2021, he’s dropped nine of his last 11 and went 0-3 (with zero sets won) this year.

I think Melbourne is the sporting capital of Australia and once you combine that with the weather, it’s unreal. As well as being one of Australia’s leading track athletes, Olympian Peter Bol reveals he is also a massive tennis fan in our Celebrity Match series. The Professional Tennis Players’ Association (PTPA) https://zanzibet.org/login/ has hired “multiple global law firms” to carry out what its chief executive calls “a full, top-to-bottom physical of the entire structure of tennis”. On the women’s side, Jessica Pegula and Coco Gauff both remained steady threats, but for much of the year, they, too, seemed to be running in place a bit.