What is the best Grand Slam match in 2024? | ATP Tour

Best of 2024

What is the best Grand Slam match in 2024?

Djokovic-Musetti at Roland Garros, Sinner-Medvedev at the Australian Open entered the list

December 01, 2024

To mark the end of another sensational season, ATPtour.com presents our annual ‘Best Of’ series, which will showcase the most impressive rivalries, matches, comebacks, upsets and more. Today, we look at the best Grand Slam matches of the year.

The game’s biggest stars shine brightly on the Grand Slam stage this season, with the top-five format offering plenty of memorable matches in 2024. Each of the epic encounters listed below went the distance, with twists and turns everywhere. each of the five frames.

There were plenty of matches to choose from, with standout encounters such as Daniil Medvedev’s Australian Open semi-final against Alexander Zverev (read more) just missed.

Wins for Novak Djokovic, Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz and Frances Tiafoe appear in our selection of the biggest matches, with Sinner, Alcaraz and Tiafoe all appearing twice.

5) US Open R3, Frances Tiafoe d. Ben Shelton, 4-6, 7-5, 6-7(5), 6-4, 6-3
Almost one year to the day after their meeting in the quarter finals of the 2023 US Open, Americans Tiafoe and Shelton produced another classic at their big home. In a battle of top servers at Arthur Ashe Stadium, it was Tiafoe’s comeback and net play that made the difference in this match by razor-thin margins.

After three sets, the scoreboard looked like it did in 2023: Shelton won the first and third sets, taking these sets to a tight break. But the sets were close to follow, and Tiafoe felt the tennis was getting better, too.

Avenging his previous defeat in New York and a three-set loss in April’s Houston final, Tiafoe recorded 21 points against the electric Shelton, a number that almost matched the lefty’s ace count. Tiafoe converted five – one in each set – en route to his second US Open semifinal appearance.

“As far as I’ve been on Tour, today was the best for anyone to return my serve that I’ve seen,” Shelton said. “From the beginning of the game, there was one where I was out a lot, like 130 [mph]and he broke the line and it was clean, he hit the base, and I said, ‘Oh, one of those days.’

“I think the level was much higher this year than we played last year, in all five sets,” he said.

It wasn’t just about tennis, either. The clash felt like a spectacle, the fans inside the world’s biggest tennis stadium were in high spirits. Even after losing, Shelton couldn’t help but smile as he approached the net to greet Tiafoe.

Frances Tiafoe, Ben Shelton” style=”width:100%;” src=”https://www.atptour.com/-/media/images/news/2024/11/27/05/08/tiafoe-shelton- us-open-2024.jpg?h=1280&w=1920″>
Photo credit: Al Bello/Getty Images

4) Wimbledon R3, Carlos Alcaraz d. Frances Tiafoe, 5-7, 6-2, 4-6, 7-6(2), 6-2
Two of the game’s greatest artists are brought together for one of the must-see games of the 2024 season. Competing for the first time since their historic five-set semi-final at the 2022 US Open, Alcaraz and Tiafoe once again went the distance with a tiebreaker on Wimbledon’s Center Court. As in New York, Alcaraz won and went on to lift the title.

Tiafoe had been coming into Wimbledon, but with nothing to lose against the defending Spanish champion, he winged it fearlessly to make it two sets to one. At 4-4 in the fourth set, Tiafoe threatened at 0/30 but was unable to make a crucial breakthrough. Instead, Alcaraz regained control of the match by chasing a 5/0 lead into the second break.

The American opened the deciding set with confidence, but Alcaraz reeled off five straight games to stop Tiafoe’s upset bid.

“It’s always a big challenge to play with Frances,” said Alcaraz. “He is a really talented player and difficult to deal with. We also saw that he deserves to be at the top and he deserves to fight for big things. It was really difficult for me to adapt my game, find solutions and try to put him in trouble, but I am very happy to do it at the end of the game.”

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Photo credit: Julian Finney/Getty Images

3) Roland Garros SF, Carlos Alcaraz d. Jannik Sinner, 2-6, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3
In what he called one of the toughest matches of his career, Alcaraz outlasted Sinner in a civil war at Court Philippe-Chatrier. En route to his first Roland Garros title, the Spaniard came back from two down and overcame a slow start that saw him trail 4-0 in the first set.

“You have to find joy in suffering,” said Alcaraz, who was in charge of the number of winners (65-39) but gained two points less than the Italian (145-147). “That’s the key, even more so here when you’re training at Roland Garros. Long rallies, four-hour matches, five sets. You have to fight, you have to suffer – but as I told my team, you have to enjoy suffering.”

Soni struggled midway through the third set but found a way to take a two-to-one lead, breaking away quickly after receiving treatment. There were 10 breaks in the first three sets, but neither could build a single break point in the fourth until Alcaraz broke in her final game to force a decider. The Spaniard kept his footing strong to start set five, winning the first three games to cash in on his momentum.

With both players struggling to find their best tennis down the stretch, this was as much a battle of heart and will as it was a test of skill. The drama continued until the last ball, when Alcaraz fought back with deuce in his final three service game. On his third match point, he sealed his place in the finals.

2) Australian Open Final: Jannik Sinner d. Daniil Medvedev, 3-6, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-3
Medvedev is known for thinking through games like a chess player, he knows a thing or two about opening gambling games. Attacking from the first ball of this Grand Slam final was one of the more surprising tactical moves of the season, and the unorthodox approach took the third seed to the brink of his first Australian Open title.

“I expected something different from his side,” said Sinner. “So I had this feeling that he might be aggressive. But he’s not this aggressive.”

Medvedev had played three setters en route to the final and decided to let it rip in an attempt to reduce the score. The usual methodical grounder unleashed the aggressive side of his game in the first two sets.

With Sinner looking for answers, Medvedev fought back to break even at 4-4 in three sets. But Sinner survived that game and broke for the first time in the match to clinch the set, throwing the match on his head. Medvedev created another break chance at 3-3 in the fourth, but again eluded Sinner before sealing the set with a break in his 10th game.

The Italian went back to rallying as the game wore on, inviting long exchanges as he patiently and calmly changed the course of the game. She finished as a worthy winner, and her first Grand Slam title paved the way for a historic season that saw her debut at World No. 1 in the PIF ATP Rankings and earned the ATP Year-End No. 1 presented in honor of PIF for the first time. the time.

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Photo credit: Daniel Pockett/Getty Images

1) Roland Garros R3: Novak Djokovic d. Lorenzo Musetti 7-5, 6-7(6), 2-6, 6-3, 6-0
Coming back from the first of two straight, five-set wins for Djokovic, the third-rounder turned heads in the early hours of Paris. The Serbian started well and, after taking a break lead at the start of the second set, had a set point to serve in the second break. But the momentum of the match quickly changed when Musetti reeled off three consecutive points to tie it at one set. Even though midnight had arrived, the 25th-seeded Italian continued to be a Cinderella story with a dominant third set.

Musetti’s powerful one-hander started to get the better of Djokovic’s strong two-hander on the rock, and the Italian was solid on the rise heading into the fourth set. Both players used the entire Court Philippe-Chatrier, mixing in a continuous sequence of shots and curved attacks that kept the crowd excited until the end recorded at 3:07 am, breaking the latest end of the event at 1:25 am.

“It was not good to play him in the third set [and] of [the] the start of the fourth,” said Djokovic. “The crowd really got me going. I really needed that push, I really needed that energy. At two-all in the fourth, they started chanting my name and I suddenly felt a new wave of determination and energy. And I think I was a different player from then on. I think since then I’ve probably only lost one game and one game left.”

The one-sided finish was reminiscent of Djokovic’s five-set victory over Musetti at Roland Garros in 2021. In their first Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting, the Serbian rallied from two sets down, winning 16 of the last 17 games before Musetti retired late on. the fifth set. In the event, the Italian continued but was unable to stop Djokovic from crossing the finish line after four hours, 29 minutes of memorable court action.

“That was probably the best match I’ve ever played here,” added Djokovic, speaking to the crowd in French. “Very exciting. Thank you very much. And now, who’s going to sleep? It’s impossible to sleep now with all this adrenaline. If you’re going to celebrate, I’m coming too!”

Novak Djokovic celebrates his five-set win over Lorenzo Musetti at 3:00 am.” style=”width:100%;” src=”https://www.atptour.com/-/media/images /news/2024/06/02/01/32/djokovic-roland-garros-2024-saturday-2.jpg?h=1080&w=1920 “>
Photo credit: AFP/Getty Images