By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Monday December 16, 2024

2024 was an incredible year for tennis that saw history made across the globe by some of the sports’ biggest stars. Djokovic, Sabalenka, Swiatek, Alcaraz, Sinner – to name a few – but those dominant forces weren’t the only ones making waves during the tennis year that was. There was also a talented octet of rising stars that broke through in a big way.



Today we celebrate the eight biggest breakout seasons of the 2024 tennis season, looking back on the signature moments of a surprising and talented group that we surely haven’t heard the last of.

Jasmine Paolini

Defining stat: Paolini reached back-to-back major finals at Roland-Garros and Wimbledon.

It was an incredible season for the Italian firebrand, and here’s a stat that exemplifies the drastic nature of Paolini’s transformation better than any other: she was 4-16 at the majors prior to 2024, but went 18-4 at the majors in 2024!

Paolini, 28, also won the gold medal in doubles with Sara Errani at the Olympics.

She won seven matches against Top 20 talent and finished the season at her career-high ranking of No.4 in the world.

What would Paolini say to someone if they had told her she would reach the final in Paris and Wimbledon in a span of five weeks, before it happened? Her words spoke volumes: “That you are crazy,” she said.

Jakub Mensik

Defining stat: 19-year-old Mensik was named ATP Newcomer of the Year.

A hard-hitting teen who entered the season with just three ATP wins to his name, Jakub Mensik ended 2024 with 25 wins, including four against the Top 10. It was an impressive year for the World No.48, a 6’4” powerhouse from Czechia with an extremely effective serve and tons of upside.

Mensik, who will turn 20 at next year’s US Open, cracked 403 aces and won 80 percent of his service games across his first full season as an ATP pro. And he did it all while battling through injuries and the growing pains that come with being a teen on tour. He could be a breakout performer in 2025 as well.

Mirra Andreeva

Defining stat: Andreeva reached her maiden major final at Roland-Garros, becoming the youngest player to reach a major semifinal in 27 years.

Mirra Andreeva and coach coach Conchita Martinez are a formidable tandem on the WTA Tour, and, based on what we’ve seen in the last 12 months, the 17-year-old Russian could be on the cusp of a brilliant career. Andreeva won 34 matches on tour in 2024, and reached her maiden major semifinal at Roland-Garros in June, where she took out Aryna Sabalenka in the quarterfinals.

Her results were no fluke. Andreeva was a consistent force against the best on tour, going 9-6 vs the Top 20, 4-3 against the Top 10 and 2-2 against the Top 5. Though she suffered a letdown in the second half of her first full season on tour, we expect the current World No.16 to come back as a force early in 2025, and make her way into the Top 10 by the end of the year.

Taylor Fritz

Defining stat: Fritz became the first American man to reach a US Open final since Andy Roddick in 2006.

American tennis has been on the up for a while, with a talented cast of rising talents that includes Tommy Paul, Frances Tiafoe, Sebastian Korda and Reilly Opelka pushing into the Top 20. But make no mistake about it, Taylor Fritz is the leader of the American core and he proved as much in 2024 as he cracked the Top 5 and became the first American man to reach a major final since 2009.



Fritz, who finished his stunning campaign by reaching the title round at the ATP Finals, completed his season at No.4 in the rankings, the highest ranking for an American man since James Blake in 2006. Will his achievements inspire his fellow Americans in 2025? We can’t wait to find out.

Zheng Qinwen

Defining stat: Qinwen won Olympic singles gold for China.

Zheng Qinwen started the season with a statement of intent, reaching the final at the Australian Open to become the first Chinese woman to play a major final since Li Na in 2014 (and the second ever in singles).

The 22-year-old wasn’t satisfied with her best Grand Slam achievement to date. She won three titles in 2024, including her biggest, at the Paris Olympics, where she stunned clay queen Iga Swiatek in the semis before assuring her spot at the top of the podium with a win over Donna Vekic in the final.

Zheng finished the season at a career-high ranking of No.5 after a blistering finish to her campaign that featured a semifinal in Beijing, a final in Wuhan, a title at Tokyo and a trip to the title round at the WTA Finals in Riyadh.

Arthur Fils

Defining stat: Fils won two ATP 500 titles at Hamburg and Tokyo.

Rising Frenchman Arthur Fils plays a power-packed game that features a ballistic forehand and plenty of situational strengths. The 20-year-old proved he is a big-match player in 2024 as he captured 500 level titles in Hamburg and Tokyo and also reached the second week at Wimbledon.

Fils won 37 matches in total, and finished the season at No.20.

Emma Navarro

Defining stat: Navarro reached the second week at three majors in 2024, including a quarterfinal at Wimbledon and a semifinal at the US Open

Emma Navarro went from a largely unheralded player with a sturdy college pedigree to a bonafide Top 10 talent in 2024. The former University of Virginia standout got better at every Grand Slam she participated in, reaching the third round in Australia, the fourth round at Roland-Garros, the quarterfinals at Wimbledon and the semis at the US Open. That sequential growth seems to be in Navarro’s DNA.



One of the fleetest movers on the WTA Tour, she used her speed and her well-balanced attack to upend Coco Gauff at Wimbledon and the US Open. She notched eight Top 20 wins in total, none bigger perhaps than her tone-setting win over Aryna Sabalenka at Indian Wells in March. It was the victory that helped Navarro believe that a big season was in store.

Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard

Defining stat: The Frenchman with the booming serve was named the ATP’s most improved player in 2024.

Serving from out of the sky, it’s no surprise that Giovanni’s Mpetshi Perricard is one of the players that his peers enjoy facing the least. What is surprising is just how rapidly the Frenchman kicked up his game from raw and inexperienced to big-stage ready.

The 21-year-old Frenchman raised two trophies in 2024, cracked 600 aces and won 88 percent of his service games. He earned five Top 30 wins and rose to No.30 in the world – all this from a man who had two ATP wins to his name at the start of the season!