As we head into the Spring and the French Open, we have already had a first time Grand Slam winner this year. Italian Janik Sinner, who would have appeared in this list, will be happy he has stayed off it after winning the Australian Open at the beginning of the year. Sinner has long been hyped as a potential grand slam champion, and he ensured those predictions came true in spectacular fashion, defeating Novak Djokovic in the semi-final then overcoming Daniil Medvedev in the final in Melbourne.
Last year, a familiar name ruled over the grand slams. Novak Djokovic won three of the four and would have made it a clean sweep but for Carlos Alcaraz beating him in the Wimbledon final. Actually defeating Djokovic in the best of five set match has got to be one of the toughest tasks in all of sports. Djokovic, Alcaraz and Sinner have now proven they can go the distance, who will join them?
There are still players out there who could finally get their hands on a grand slam trophy for the first time this year. Let’s take a look at the contenders.
Holger Rune
Holger Rune has enjoyed a sensational rise up the world rankings over the last 18 months, joining Alcaraz and Sinner as one of the most promising emerging players in the world. As recently as April 2022, Rune was outside of the top 90, but soared after claiming Paris Masters glory, defeating Djokovic in the final.
Last year didn’t really see Rune kick on. He made the Wimbledon quarter finals, but then went on to win just one of his next eight matches, including first round losses in Cincinnati, Toronto and at the final major of the year, the US Open.
This form led him to hire former tennis great Boris Becker as his new coach. Becker, of course, has worked with Djokovic and there already seems to be progress, with Rune pushing both sinner and Djokovic close in tournaments to close out last year.
Ben Shelton
This might be considered a ‘reach’ but Ben Shelton showed plenty in 2023 that he has the potential to go the distance in grand slams. In his first full season on the tour he made the semi-finals of the US Open and Quarter finals of the Australian Open.
Shelton has lots and lots of weapons and he enjoys the big stage, and playing in majors is the biggest possible stage in tennis. This might be a year too early, but if Rod Laver thinks he has the game to win a grand slam one day, that is good enough for me.
Alexander Zverev
Zverev certainly divides opinion, his antics on and off court have turned some people off. However, he is an extremely gifted tennis player who hasn’t yet won a major but could do so this year. It looked like he would win the 2022 French Open, however, injury put paid to those hopes and it also ruled him out for the rest of that year.
It took a while for Zverev to get back to his usual levels after that injury. However, there were signs of encouragement in his game when he won two titles and beat Medvedev, Sinner and Alcaraz. Although his levels have still not returned to what he was showing in 2022, they are heading in the right direction.
