By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Sunday January 7, 2024
Week one of the 2024 ATP season was full of match point miracles and more - join us for a look at the numbers.
Photo Source: Getty
Where to start? Week one of the 2024 tennis season is in the books and there is a lot to talk about. There was high drama across five different events – United Cup, Brisbane (WTA and ATP), Auckland and Hong Kong – as top players worked to build momentum and get match tough ahead of the 2024 Australian Open, which begins in less than one week.
Here’s a By the Numbers rundown at some of the key milestones we witnessed during a busy week one.
9 - Number of match points saved by Germany’s Jan-Lennard Struff saved during his dramatic victory over former Grand Slam champion Marin Cilic at Hong Kong on January 2. Struff’s luck would end there, as he was knocked out in a third-set tiebreak by Sebastian Ofner in the next round.
16 – Age of Brenda Fruhvirtova, who notched her first WTA win at Auckland (and first Top-50 win) over Anna Blinkova. The talented Czech, ranked 110 and the younger sister of Linda (aged 18 and also very talented: ranked 85), went on to lose to eventual champion Coco Gauff in round two, 6-3, 6-0.
16 – Iga Swiatek didn't get to taste victory in Sunday's United Cup final between Poland and Germany, but the World No.1 does head to the Australian Open with the tour's longest active winning streak of 16 matches. Swiatek won all five singles matches she played at United Cup. She finished the 2023 season on an 11-match winning streak with titles in Beijing and the WTA Finals.
43 – Length of Novak Djokovic’s winning streak on Aussie Soil. That streak ended at the United Cup with a loss to Alex de Minaur, as the 24-time major champion suffered his first defeat in Australia since falling to Hyeon Chung in the round of 16 at the 2018 Australian Open.
Amazing, but not really surprising, that the most dominant force in the sport went five years without losing down under (though he did famously miss out on playing during one of them).
1070 – Number of career wins owned by Rafael Nadal. The legendary Spaniard Passed Ivan Lendl to moves into fourth on the all-time ATP Win list with 1069 and added number 1270 before falling to Jordan Thompson in the quarterfinals. His week would end with some disappointing injury news – Nadal has been ruled out of the Australian Open – but it was great to have Nadal back, even if only for a short stint.
2 – Number of times China’s Shang Juncheng saved match points to win. The 18-year-old prevailedin back-to-back matches at Hong Kong (2 v No.33 ranked Djere, one v No.50 ranked Van De Zandschulp) to reach maiden ATP QF. Once there, he earned his biggest career win, taking out Frances Tiafoe to reach his maiden semifinal. Keep an eye on this rising talent.
2009 – Last time we saw a WTA quarterfinal between two teens at a 500 or better. The Brisbane quarterfinal featuring Mirra Andreeva and Linda Noskova was the first last eight clash between two teenagers at a WTA 500 event or higher in 15 years. The last? A 2009 US Open quarterfinal between Caroline Wozniacki and Melanie Oudin.
5 – Roman Safiullin saved 5 match points during his win over Alexei Popyrin in round two at Brisbane, keeping the theme of houdini comebacks going strong.
1 – Speaking of that theme, Matteo Arnaldi saved 1 match point versus Marton Fucsovics in Round one at Brisbane, then reached his second career ATP QF.
1 – Alex De Minaur earned his first win over a reigning World No.1 at United Cup this weekend, defeating Novak Djokovic. The Aussie always shines when playing for country. Remember United Cup last year, when De Minaur defeated then No.2-ranked Nadal?
10 – After his win over Alexander Zverev in the semifinals, De Minaur assures himself of a Top 10 debut on Monday, and he’s the first Aussie to do that since Hewitt in 2006.
2 – Angelique Kerber started her comeback from a long hiatus (first match since 2022 Wimbledon) and saved two match points to defeat Ajla Tomljanovic in a pivotal victory for Team Germany in the United Cup semis. It was a key moment for the three-time major champion, who had struggled on court in her early matches.
15 – Aryna Sabalenka took a 15-match winning streak on Aussie soil into the Brisbane final against Rybakina, but her run of dominance in Australia ended there, with a 6-0, 6-3 loss to the Kazakh.
15 – Elena Rybakina dropped just 15 games in five matches at Brisbane. Look out for her at Melbourne!
16 – Teen phenom Mirra Andreeva continued the trend she started during her breakout season in 2023, and reached her maiden WTA quarterfinal at Brisbane. Now ranked 47, the Russian talent notched her fifth WTA Top-20 win in Brisbane, before eventually falling to Linda Noskova in the quarterfinals.
10 – Coco Gauff completed first successful title defense at Auckland, stretching her streak to 10 consecutive wins (20-1 in sets) with a victory over Svitolina in the final. The 2023 US Open champion improves to 7-1 lifetime in WTA Finals, and will head to Australia as a key contender.
The victory marks Gauff's first successful title defense on the WTA Tour.
1993 – Alexander Zverev saved two match points (we told you it was a theme) against Hubert Hurkacz in the United Cup final and Germany went on to win the United Cup for the nation’s first big team title since 1993 for Germany.
2017 – Last but not least we have Grigor Dimitrov, who won the title in Brisbane to claim his FIRST ATP TITLE SINCE 2017. Dimitrov defeated Holger Rune in the final, marking his first title on tour since the 2017 Nitto ATP Finals. Dimitrov is 23-6 lifetime in Brisbane, which ranks him as the tournament’s all-time leader and one of four players to have won multiple titles there (first since Murray, 2012-2013).