The US Open, the final tennis Grand Slam of the year, concluded 48 hours ago, but the analysts at ESPN are already hard at work predicting who will win all four of the 2024 Grand Slam tournaments in men’s and women’s singles.
Check out the predictions below.
1. Australian Open: January 15-28, 2024
Men: Carlos Alcaraz
Women: Coco Gauff
ESPN’s picks are interesting.
Both Carlos Alcaraz and Coco Gauff are young stars who have lit up the tour with athleticism and great play.
Alcaraz was injured and did not play in the 2022 Australian Open, and Gaulf has never made it past the fourth round in Melbourne.
Both would be first-time Australian Open champions who would dethrone the 2022 champions: Novak Djokovic and Aryna Sabalenka.
2. French Open: May 26-June 9, 2024
Men: Rafael Nadal
Women: Iga Swiatek
The French Open is always about who plays best on the red clay, and ESPN is picking the greats of the game on this surface.
Even though Rafael Nadal has been out with injuries for an extended period, he is the King of Clay with 14 French Open titles.
If he is in Paris and is healthy, it is hard to pick against him.
Swiatek has won four Grand Slams, three are French Open titles within the past four years.
Novak Djokovic and Swiatek are the defending champions.
3. Wimbledon: July 1-14, 2024
Men: Novak Djokovic
Women: Ons Jabeur
Djokovic and Jabeur were Wimbledon finalists in 2023 so it is not a big reach to predict both will prevail next year.
For Jabeur, it would be her maiden Grand Slam.
Current champions are Carlos Alcaraz and Marketa Vondrousova.
4. US Open: August 26-September 8, 2024
Men: Ben Shelton
Women: Aryna Sabalenka
Once again, for the 2024 US Open, ESPN is going with those who were close to winning the 2023 US Open.
Shelton was a semifinalist but is still relatively inexperienced on the ATP Tour; ESPN believes he will make the leap next year over his American counterparts Taylor Fritz, Frances Tiafoe, Tommy Paul, and Christopher Eubanks to be the first American man to win since Andy Roddick won the US Open in 2003.
Sabalenka was also close to beating Coco Gauff in 2023 so the presumption is that she will make the leap for her second career Grand Slam title.
Novak Djokovic and Coco Gauff are the reigning champions.
It is worth noting that ESPN does not expect any player to win more than one Grand Slam next year.
And a final point is that previous Wimbledon champions Elena Rybakina and Marketa Vondrousova are not in the mix in any of the predictions.
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