Tennis News Round-up - June 2024

June brought the conclusion of the second Grand Slam of the year, Roland Garros, and the final grass-court build-up to Wimbledon.

Alcaraz wins his first Roland Garros title

After battling past Lorenzo Musetti in five sets, Novak Djokovic had to come through another five-set match against Francisco Cerundolo to reach the quarter-finals. However, he was then forced to withdraw with a knee injury, which handed Casper Ruud a walkover into the semi-finals.

Alex de Minaur produced a strong win over Daniil Medvedev, but his run ended in the quarter-finals against Alex Zverev. The German had already come through a five-set battle with Holger Rune in the previous round. Ruud took the opening set in their semi-final, but Zverev recovered well and won in four sets to reach the second Grand Slam final of his career.

In the other half of the draw, Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner set up another major meeting in the semi-finals. Alcaraz got there by beating Stefanos Tsitsipas, while Sinner overcame Grigor Dimitrov in the quarter-finals. The match did not always reach the level of their best previous contests, but it still delivered plenty of drama, with Alcaraz coming through in five sets to reach his first Roland Garros final.

He went on to beat Zverev in another five-set match to claim his third Grand Slam title, and his first in Paris.

The results in Paris also meant that Sinner became world number 1 for the first time. He became just the 29th man in the Open Era to reach the top of the rankings.

Swiatek reigns again in Paris

Mirra Andreeva continued her rapid rise by making the quarter-finals at Roland Garros and then producing one of the standout wins of the tournament against second seed Aryna Sabalenka to reach the semi-finals.

That set up a meeting with Jasmine Paolini, who had beaten Elena Rybakina to continue her own breakthrough season. Paolini proved too strong for Andreeva and moved into her first Grand Slam final.

In the other semi-final, Coco Gauff fought back from a set down to beat Ons Jabeur in the quarter-finals, but she could not find a way past Iga Swiatek. The Pole had come within a point of defeat against Naomi Osaka in the second round, but from that moment on she looked stronger with every match.

Swiatek overwhelmed the rest of the field, including a dominant win over Anastasia Potapova without dropping a game and a victory over Marketa Vondrousova while conceding only two games. She then beat Gauff to reach the final, where she defended her title in emphatic fashion by beating Paolini for the loss of just three games.

It was Swiatek's third Roland Garros title in a row and her fourth overall, further underlining her dominance on clay.

Sinner makes the ideal start as world number 1

Sinner began life as the new world number 1 in ideal fashion by winning the Halle ATP 500 title. He beat Hubert Hurkacz in the final to take more momentum into Wimbledon.

Alcaraz's Wimbledon preparation was less smooth. He was beaten in the second round at Queen's by Britain's Jack Draper. Draper had already won the first ATP title of his career the previous week in Stuttgart, and his grass-court form has made him one of the main British hopes for Wimbledon this year.

Queen's was eventually won by Tommy Paul, who beat Lorenzo Musetti in the final to secure the first ATP 500 title of his career.

Pegula takes Berlin title

On the WTA side, Jessica Pegula won the Berlin WTA 500 title. She beat Anna Kalinskaya in a closely fought final to complete a strong week on grass heading into Wimbledon.

Focus turns to Wimbledon

With Roland Garros complete and the grass-court warm-up events finished, attention now turns fully to Wimbledon. Alcaraz and Sinner lead the men's conversation, while Swiatek will look to carry her clay-court dominance into the grass season. British hopes will centre on Jack Draper after his impressive run of form in Stuttgart and at Queen's.

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