2024 was historic for many reasons, as it resulted in a change in the landscape of tennis. For the first time since 2002, no members of the ‘Big 3’ were able to win a Grand Slam. Instead, Carlos Alcaraz continued his habit of winning Grand Slams as he back-to-back majors in Roland Garros and Wimbledon.
Moreover, Jannik Sinner secured his first two Grand Slams this season and the year-end No.1 ranking. Will we see another breakthrough like Sinner in 2025, or will it officially be the era of Sinner and Alcaraz? Here are three picks for players likely to land their first Grand Slam title in 2025:
ATP players most likely to win first Grand Slam in 2025
1. Alexander Zverev
Of course, the first and obvious choice is Alexander Zverev. Astonishingly, a player with zero Grand Slam titles in 2024 managed to finish ahead in the rankings against a player who won two, Alcaraz. However, this did show one thing: Zverev’s consistency. The German reached his second Grand Slam final at Roland Garros this year but fell dramatically to Alcaraz in five sets.
Zverev has reached two Grand Slam finals in his career and had the chance to win both. His first Grand Slam final came in the 2020 US Open, where he lost to Dominic Thiem despite being two sets up and serving for the title. The 27-year-old has won everything there is to win outside the Grand Slams. He has won the Olympic Singles Gold Medal in Tokyo, shown success in Masters 1000s, and won the ATP Finals title twice. However, success in Grand Slams has so far eluded him.
Because Sinner hasn’t shown his potential outside hard courts and Alcaraz has struggled with his fitness, perhaps 2025 is the season where he breaks the duck in Grand Slams. Considering he is the World No. 2 going into the Australian Open, he can avoid both Sinner and Alcaraz until the finals. Hence, he needs to make the most of these types of situations.
2. Taylor Fritz
If there is one player who will be extremely looking forward to the doping case of Jannik Sinner, it is Taylor Fritz. The American was in the two biggest finals of his career at the US Open and the ATP Finals this year. He became the first player from the USA since Andy Roddick to secure a spot in the US Open final. Moreover, he became the first American to secure a place in the ATP Finals since James Blake. However, he lost to Sinner in both of those matches.
The good thing for him is that Sinner’s future is doubtful because of his doping scandal. If the verdict shows that the World No. 1 misses Grand Slams after the Australian Open, Fritz could cash in. The American No. 1 won only one important ATP title at Indian Wells in 2022. The World No. 4 beat Rafael Nadal in the final. However, 2024 has shown that he is on the cusp of breaking the Grand Slam title drought for the United States.
3. Casper Ruud
Casper Ruud also made a linear progression in 2024. Although he didn’t make a hat trick in the Roland Garros finals, he secured his first Masters 1000 final in Monte Carlo, where he remarkably beat Novak Djokovic for the first time in his career. However, he lost to Stefanos Tsitsipas in the final. He turned the result around against the Greek in the Barcelona Open final, winning his first ATP 500 title.
If we look into the 2024 season, almost no one can say he dominated the clay court season. There were three different Masters 1000 champions on clay. Carlos Alcaraz missed nearly the entirety of those events before winning Roland Garros. Hence, the inconsistency shown by players on clay would bring good news to Ruud, who has shown consistency on this surface for the past three years. If the Norwegian has to break his Grand Slam duck, it will likely be on clay. He has played three Grand Slam finals in his career, with two coming at Roland Garros.
Main Photo Credit: Robert Deutsch – Imagn Images
