The 2024 ATP Tour season witnessed plenty of drama and twists and turns, but there was also plenty of consistency.
Jannik Sinner clinched eight titles, including his first two Grand Slams, with a record nine Italians in the ATP Tour top 100.
Carlos Alcaraz secured the other two major titles, with Novak Djokovic now aiming to prioritise Grand Slams as he looks to fight his way back into the conversation.
And providing consistency in an entirely different manner were a handful of rising stars who impressively soared up the ATP rankings thanks to their efforts on the court.
Frenchman Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard climbed a huge 174 places this year, having started 2024 ranked 205th and finished ranked 31st.
China’s Shang Juncheng meanwhile rose 133 places from 183rd to 50th, with Czech ace Jakub Mensik soaring 119 places from 167th to 48th.
But such rises were nothing compared to that of Jacob Fearnley, who climbed a stunning 547 spots in the ATP rankings from the start of 2024 to the end.
The Scot started out the season ranked 646th, but a series of remarkable feats saw him end the season just inside the top 100 at 99th, climbing more than any other player.
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While the likes of Sinner and Alcaraz were at the 2024 Australian Open, Fearnley was featuring in an ITF 25K event in Luxembourg, where he remarkably won both the singles and the doubles titles.
After seven successive match wins en route to that singles success, the 23-year-old then missed out on five months of competitive action as he finished his fifth season playing college tennis for Texas Christian University.
But Fearnley returned with a bang as he made his mark on the grass season, with the Briton following in the footsteps of Andy Murray, Greg Rusedski and Dan Evans to win the Rothesay Open Nottingham on the ATP Challenger Tour.
A Wimbledon wildcard then went his way, with the rising star not wasting any time as he beat Alejandro Moro Canas in round one to set up a mouthwatering clash against seven-time winner Novak Djokovic.
Ranked 277th at the time of the meeting with the 24-time Grand Slam champion, Fearnley fell short in pulling off one of the greatest shocks of all-time, with Djokovic beating him in four sets.
Player | Ranking at start of 2024 | Ranking at end of 2024 | Difference |
Jacob Fearnley | 646 | 99 | +547 |
Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard | 205 | 31 | +174 |
Shang Juncheng | 183 | 50 | +133 |
Jakub Mensik | 167 | 48 | +119 |
Yunchaokete Bu | 171 | 65 | +106 |
The Serbian went on to lose the final to Alcaraz, with Fearnley securing three further Challenger titles throughout the season, finishing 2024 with a superb 45-9 win-loss record.
The latter joined fellow rising star Jack Draper as the only Briton to win four Challenger titles in a season, with both players now set for very exciting 2025 campaigns.
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