That’s A Wrap

One of the biggest coaching changes in the history of the sport was announced last week, and the men’s and women’s tours crowned a couple “World Champions”.

As always, there is plenty to discuss, so let’s get into this week’s topics, presented by SuckerPunch! 🥒

New Videos!!

We dropped THREE NEW videos this past week that you should definitely check out. The first covers Jannik Sinner’s incredible title run at the ATP Finals. The second is a little different from our usual videos, and that’s all I’ll say about that one 👀. The third video covers the other top player’s performances from Turin.

Be sure to check out all three videos and let us know your thoughts!

What’s The Dill???

Welcome to the What’s The Dill portion of this week’s newsletter, brought to you by SuckerPunch! Every week we will feature the best question(s) asked on our “What’s The Dill” post which can be found under the Community tab on the Courtside Tennis YouTube channel.

This week’s question was emailed in, and that fan wants to know our final thoughts on the 2024 season.

The 2024 season was certainly a historic one. Rafael Nadal, one of the greatest players of all time, called it a career. He played his last match just last week, falling to Botic van de Zandschulp 6-4 6-4 in the Davis Cup Finals. 

Jannik Sinner became the first Italian man to be ranked #1 in the world. In addition to winning the ATP Finals, Sinner also split 2 of the 4 majors with Carlos Alcaraz. They were definitely the top 2 players this year, and are showing no signs of slowing down. 

Novak Djokovic finally won the prize he coveted the most, the Olympic Gold Medal, in Paris this summer. However, that was the only title he won this season, and his only final. 

Iga Swiatek won the French Open for the 4th time, but did not reach another Grand Slam final outside of Paris for the 2nd consecutive season.

Aryna Sabalenka won her first two major titles of her career in Melbourne & New York. She also finished as the year-end #1 for the first time.

Despite not winning a major this season, Coco Gauff won her first WTA Finals title and finished the year at #3.

Of course, so many other things happened this year but that will be said in our video at the end of the year! 2024 was as entertaining of a season as any of us could’ve hoped for. Here’s to more great moments in 2025!

Also before I forget, make sure to check out some of my favorite products from SuckerPunch linked below! Use code ‘Courtside-Punch’ for 25% off!

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What Happened Last Week?

The “World Cup of Tennis”, also known as the Davis Cup & the Billie Jean King Cup wrapped up this past week. 

At the Billie Jean King Cup, Italy, anchored by Jasmine Paolini, took home the trophy with a win over Slovakia in the final. 

Italy’s road to the final included a 2-1 win over Japan, 2-1 vs Poland, and then 2-0 over Slovakia. Paolini went 2-1 in singles with her lone loss coming to Iga Swiatek in three sets 3-6 6-4 6-4. Paolini also clinched all three team wins, including twice in the deciding doubles alongside Sara Errani. 

In the final, Lucia Bronzetti gave Italy the early lead with a 6-2 6-4 win over Viktoria Hruncakova. In the second singles match, Paolini completed her MVP week with a dominant 6-2 6-1 victory over Rebecca Sramkova. This is Italy’s 5th Billie Jean King Cup title, and first since 2013.

On the men’s side, Jannik Sinner & Matteo Berrettini made it a clean sweep for Italy with a Davis Cup championship. The Italians got the job done with a win over Netherlands in the final. 

En route to the final, Italy took down Argentina 2-1 & Australia 2-0. Sinner & Berrettini even notched a doubles victory together in the win over Argentina.

In the final, Berrettini got the Italians off to a 1-0 start with a 6-4 6-2 win over Botic van de Zandschulp. Sinner then sealed the deal with a 7-6 (2) 6-2 victory against Tallon Griekspoor. 

Live Ranking Update: The Biggest Movers Of The Week

There was no major movement in the rankings this past week, but this gives us a chance to recognize some players on their year-end rankings! 

Congratulations to Jannik Sinner & Aryna Sabalenka on finishing as the year-end world no. 1’s for the first time ever! These two are having some interesting career parallels as they also both won the Australian and US Open this season. 

Also, world no. 4 Taylor Fritz once again finished the year as the top-ranked American man. 

Finally, shout out to Jasmine Paolini, who is surely the Most Improved WTA Player of The Year for finishing at no. 4 after a stellar season.

Major Tournament Updates

With the professional tennis season officially in the books, there are no main tour-level events remaining in 2024. 

The next big events to look forward to are the United Cup and the start of the Australian Open lead-up tournaments:

• ATP/WTA United Cup - Perth & Sydney (December 27 - January 5, 2025)

• ATP/WTA Brisbane International (December 30 - January 5, 2025)

• ATP Hong Kong Open (December 30 - January 5, 2025)

• WTA ASB Classic - Auckland (December 30 - January 5, 2025)

Watch Out For These Players

Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard:

If there’s anyone bound for a huge year in 2025, it’s this Frenchman. He has already drawn plenty of attention with his HUGE serving numbers (18.5 average aces per match & 138 mph average first serve speed). He finished 2024 at #31 in the world with 2 titles. And that was all with only 28 total tour-level matches played. Look out for him to make the next big step in 2025.

Diana Shnaider:

Another 20 year-old to look out for in 2025 is Diana Shnaider. In her first full year on tour, the former NC State player went 55-23 and won 4 titles. After finishing the year at #13, Shnaider is definitely headed to the top 10 if she keeps this kind of form up.

Off The Court

Novak Djokovic announced on Saturday that his new coach for at least the offseason and the Australian Open was none other than Andy Murray. The former world no. 1 just couldn’t stay away from the tour, and will begin his first coaching stint with the biggest job the sport could offer. 

This news came as a surprise to everyone, and it is unclear what the circumstances around this pairing are just yet. 

Novak and Andy broke the news via Instagram with a video narrated by the Djoker. In a statement, Novak said he was “excited to have one of [his] greatest rivals on the same side of the net as my coach”. 

Murray seems to be equally enthusiastic about his new role, stating he was also “really excited for it, and looking forward to spending time on the same side of the net as Novak for a change, helping him to achieve his goals”.

Speaking of goals, winning a Grand Slam is Novak’s primary goal for 2025. Bringing in someone who can more than relate to the mental and physical toll it takes to win a Slam these days could prove to be vital. 

It will be interesting to see how well Andy can keep his emotions in check on the sidelines, as we know he can be a bit volatile on court at times. 

Regardless of if this partnership turns out to be successful, it will most definitely be entertaining, and could open the door for more blockbuster partnerships in the future. 

Highlights Of The Week

As always, there were plenty of hot shots and great rallies in last week’s tournaments.

Take a look at some of the best shots from the Davis Cup Finals & the Billie Jean King Cup Finals!

One Last Thing!

Once again, If you guys want your questions answered in next week’s newsletter check out the post in the Community tab of the Courtside Tennis YouTube channel. You can also email us, drop them in the discord, or leave a comment on our most recent Youtube video. Make sure to put Courtside Digest before the comment so that way we can find it more easily. Thanks!