October 2024
The 2024 season is drawing to a close, with the race to the Final 8 events in Turin and Riyadh coming to a climax.
Sinner wins first Shanghai title
The biggest ATP event of the month was the Masters 1000 event in Shanghai. After a strong season, Alex Zverev came into the event as world number 2, but was upset in the Round of 16 by David Goffin. Taylor Fritz then beat Goffin to advance to the Semi Finals. Novak Djokovic came through against 19-year-old Jakub Mensik in the Quarter Finals after dropping the first set, and beat Fritz in two tight sets to reach the Final.
In the other half, Jannik Sinner beat Daniil Medvedev in the Quarter Finals, but Carlos Alacarz was beaten at the same stage by Tomas Machac. Sinner came through against Machac to set up a Final against Djokovic, which was won by the Italian. That win cemented his grip on the world number 1 ranking, and ensures that he will end 2024 ranked 1 for the first time.
Elsewhere, two young players won the biggest titles of their careers: Jack Draper won the Vienna ATP 500 and Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard won the Basel ATP 500.
Gauff and Sabalenka win Chinese titles
Iga Swiatek missed Beijing and Wuhan due to personal reasons, meaning Aryna Sabalenka was the top seed in both events. In Beijing, Swiatek lost in the Quarter Finals in a three set battle to Karolina Muchova. The Czech then beat home favourite Qinwen Zheng to advance to the Final. Coco Gauff came through three setters against Yuliia Starodubtseva in the Quarter Finals, and Paula Badosa in the Semi Finals, to join Muchova in the Final. The young American dominated, winning 6-1 6-3 to win the title.
Over in Wuhan, two Polish players were making up for Swiatek’s absence with runs to the Quarter Finals. Magdalena Frech was beaten by Sabalenka and Magdalena Linette was beaten by Gauff. Sabalenka came from a set down to beat Gauff and advance to the Final. There was an all-Chinese Semi Final in the other half, with Zheng beating Xinyu Wang. In a close Final, Sabalenka came out on top to win the Wuhan title. She would also become world number 1 later in the month, knocking Swiatek off top spot.
The other biggest WTA titles in October were won by Daria Kasatkina in Ningbo and Qinwen Zheng in Tokyo.
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