Largest ATP Tour upsets of 2024 | ATP Tour

Better of 2024

Largest ATP Tour upsets of 2024: Nardi, Mensik stage shocks

Machac, Fonseca, Monteiro additionally function

December 02, 2024

The energy in depth of males’s tennis ensures there are not any ensures on the ATP Tour.

The PIF ATP Rankings supply a tangible option to assess the order of issues within the males’s sport, but the 2024 season nonetheless provided loads of seismic upsets. There have been outcomes that rocked prime stars, went in opposition to the shape guide and catapulted younger gamers’ names into the worldwide highlight.

As a part of our annual in-review sequence, ATPTour.com counts down the 5 most surprising upsets of the 12 months. On Tuesday we’ll have a look at the most important upsets on the Grand Slams.

5) Madrid R2: Monteiro d. Tsitsipas 6-4, 6-4 Not even a Prime 10 opponent in red-hot type was sufficient to cease Thiago Monteiro when he was in full move on the Mutua Madrid Open.

After coming by way of qualifying on the ATP Masters 1000 occasion, Monteiro shocked Stefanos Tsitsipas with a medical, clean-hitting show. Tsitsipas entered the pair’s maiden Lexus ATP Head2Head assembly with a 10-1 report for the 12 months on clay after profitable Monte-Carlo and reaching the ultimate in Barcelona, however the Greek was powerless to disclaim the impressed Monteiro from notching the fourth Prime 10 win of his profession.

The Brazilian’s triumph in opposition to the then-No. 7 within the PIF ATP Rankings was positioned in even higher distinction by the actual fact he had misplaced within the first spherical at an ATP Challenger Tour occasion to then-World No. 255 Jaime Faria only one week prior. Monteiro’s upset was finally an illustration of simply how shortly fortunes can change in tennis.

“Each week you will have a brand new alternative,” mentioned Monteiro, who went on to achieve the third spherical in Madrid earlier than making the fourth spherical in Rome, additionally as a qualifier. “These previous few weeks I wasn’t feeling actually good on the courtroom. I used to be making an attempt to do properly at Challengers, however it didn’t work. I simply saved up the arduous work, day-to-day. Even after I was not feeling good and never profitable matches, I saved believing in myself, and this week it has paid off.”

4) Rio de Janiero R1: Fonseca d Fils 6-0, 6-4 The way to seize the quick consideration of your own home followers, Joao Fonseca type.

Competing as a No. 655-ranked wild card on the Rio Open offered by Claro, the 17-year-old charged previous seventh seed Arthur Fils in simply his second tour-level match. Fonseca, who grew to become the primary participant born in 2006 to win an ATP Tour match along with his commanding victory in his hometown, fell to his knees and put his head in his palms after securing a well-known win.

“I’m so blissful. It could not be higher than this to get my first win 10 minutes away from my home and with all my buddies, all my household watching,” mentioned the Brazilian, who beat Cristian Garin in his subsequent match earlier than falling to Mariano Navone within the quarter-finals. “It’s extremely particular… I used to be centered on making each ball. Clearly, I used to be nervous, I used to be shaking, however I needed a lot to win, I made it.”

The standard of opponent Fonseca had crushed was solely emphasised throughout the remainder of 2024, when Fils lifted ATP 500 crowns in Hamburg and Tokyo and rose to a career-high No. 20 within the PIF ATP Rankings. The pair might even meet once more earlier than 2024 is finished, with Fonseca (now at a career-high No. 145 himself) becoming a member of Fils within the lineup for December’s Subsequent Gen ATP Finals offered by PIF.

3) Shanghai QF: Machac d. Alcaraz 7-6(5), 7-5 Carlos Alcaraz was on a late-season 12-match tear that had seen him go unbeaten throughout the Davis Cup Finals Group Stage, the Laver Cup, and the majority of the 2024 Asian swing. Then the No. 2 within the PIF ATP Rankings bumped into Tomas Machac on the Rolex Shanghai Masters.

The 24-year-old Czech had loved a powerful season as much as that time. He reached his maiden ATP Masters 1000 quarter-final in March in Miami, upset Novak Djokovic en path to his maiden ATP Tour last in Might in Geneva, and had returned to a joint profession excessive of No. 33 within the PIF ATP Rankings forward of Shanghai. But the best way he blew away the in-form Alcaraz on the Chinese language Masters 1000 was nonetheless one thing to behold.

Machac powered 20 winners previous the Spaniard within the opening set alone, and later saved his cool to seal victory after Alcaraz reclaimed an early break within the second set. The Czech, who grew to become the fourth lowest-ranked semi-finalist in Shanghai match historical past, had given one other reminder of his potential to push additional in direction of the highest of the sport.

“I knew that the extent of my tennis can be nice as a result of I’m enjoying the perfect proper now, for certain,” mentioned Machac, who completed his season at a career-high World No. 25. “I beat Tommy Paul [in my] final match with an unbelievable efficiency. With most of these gamers, I’ve to play this degree in any other case it’s 6-2, 6-3 [and] you go residence, there isn’t any different possibility. I’m blissful I managed to play like this for 2 units.”

2) Doha QF: Mensik d. Rublev 6-4, 7-6(6) Jakub Mensik’s emergence as one the ATP Tour’s brightest skills has occurred steadily throughout the previous 18 months. But it was arguably his maiden Prime 5 win, clinched in type in opposition to Andrey Rublev at February’s Qatar ExxonMobil Open, that cemented his standing as a bona fide star within the making.

The 18-year-old Mensik downed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina and former World No. 1 Andy Murray in Doha to achieve his maiden ATP Tour quarter-final. His subsequent opponent, Rublev, was the proprietor of a powerful report on the ATP 250: he reached the ultimate there on debut in 2018 earlier than profitable the trophy in 2020. Competing because the World No. 5 and prime seed, Rublev was undoubtedly the favorite in his maiden Lexus ATP Head2Head assembly with a #NextGenATP star.

Because it was, Mensik had no bother bringing his enormous sport to one of many greatest matches of his younger profession. The Czech, who used a Subsequent Gen Accelerator Programme wild card to realize entry into the occasion, saved all six break factors he confronted within the match, in response to Infosys ATP Stats, and sealed a straight-sets victory that assured his rise into the Prime 100 of the PIF ATP Rankings for the primary time.

“It is simply been an unimaginable week from the start. I performed very properly and I knew I might play with the massive gamers,” mentioned Mensik, who reached the ultimate in Doha earlier than falling to Karen Khachanov. “It is a tremendous feeling to achieve the semi-finals after beating these good gamers.”

1) Indian Wells R3: Nardi d. Djokovic 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 Luca Nardi might have felt he had already ‘received’ just by setting a third-round conflict with World No. 2 Novak Djokovic on the BNP Paribas Open. After dropping in qualifying, the Italian was granted a main-draw spot as a fortunate loser, instantly capitalised by defeating Zhang Zhizhen for his first Prime 50 win, after which set about making ready to tackle his childhood idol Djokovic within the third spherical.

Issues solely obtained higher from there for Nardi in Indian Wells. Competing because the World No. 123, he shocked the tennis world by sinking the five-time champion in a see-saw battle in Tennis Paradise. The 20-year-old outhit Djokovic by 16 winners to 2 within the last set to snap Djokovic’s 11-match profitable streak at Masters 1000 occasions.

Nardi was simply the ninth participant from exterior the Prime 100 to defeat a Prime 2 opponent since 2015. His shock win helped him surge into the Prime 100 for the primary time after Indian Wells, whereas it additionally made his title immediately acquainted with tennis followers the world over.

“I believe that earlier than this evening nobody knew me,” Nardi mentioned after recording simply his fifth tour-level match win. “I hope that the gang loved the sport. I am tremendous proud of this one.”