Looking back, looking forward. With the 2024 ATP season in the books, Joel Drucker has nine notable storylines to consider over the next few weeks—before the next year of men’s tennis begins. (On mobile devices, scroll down to read more ATP takeways; on desktop, you’ll see additional entires on the left side of your screen.)
The four Americans named above are all ranked inside the top 25. Each has a strong work ethic, earned wins over higher-ranked players, won titles, and made various splashes at the majors. Each also has a mix of movement and shot-making skills that are quite engaging to watch.
Paul (No. 12) led this quartet in tournament titles, taking three across the winter, summer, and fall (Dallas, London, Stockholm). After several early year struggles, Tiafoe (No. 18) rekindled his fire just in time to make a great run in New York, beating Shelton in one of the best matches of ’24, and then advancing to the semis.
Though Tiafoe didn’t win a title in ’24, he’d certainly learned much that will aid him in ’25.
“I just think the depth in tennis is a joke right now,” he said following a renaissance run to the finals of the Cincinnati Open. “I think anybody can clip anybody. If you’re not ready to go, you’re going to get clipped. And it showed for me. You’re taking the game for granted, you’re not sharp, you know you may have something going on, you’re not fully present, someone will beat you.”
In his second full year on the tour, Shelton (No. 21), captured a title on clay, beating Tiafoe in the final of Houston. Korda, ranked as high as 15 in August before finishing at 23, had his year cut short due to an elbow injury that he had surgery for in October.
“I think it’s really cool to see where American tennis is going,” Shelton said following his US Open loss to Tiafoe. “It’s not just me and Foe, you know, there’s four or five other guys in the mix. We all are going to have our moments to shine. There is peaks and valleys in this sport, for sure. I just gotta continue to improve.”
That concept holds true for all four.
