2024 turned out to be a pretty good year for 28-year-olds! While I have banged on about Barbora Krejcikova and her Wimbledon triumph, arguably the player of the year was 28-year-old Italian Jasmine Paolini. And one of the matches of the year was against another 28-year-old, Donna Vekic. But they aren’t the only 28-year-olds to look back on 2024 fondly. Karolina Muchova had a great revival, Katie Boulter won 2 titles (and just got engaged!) and Rebecca Sramkova was one of the best players of the last few months of the season. Then there was Taylor Townsend, who with another 28-year-old, Katerina Siniakova, finally got her hands on a grand slam title in the year she turned 28.
For Jasmine Paolini, this was simply another level of success. The Italian had been around for a while and actually ended 2023 pretty well, making the top 30. The title in Dubai was her big breakthrough, but then making two grand slam finals back-to-back at Roland Garros and Wimbledon was extraordinary. She followed this up with a gold medal in doubles alongside Sara Errani and ended the year being the MVP for the Italian team winning the Bille Jean King Cup. Paolini’s big smile and demeanor made her a lot of friends. At just 5’4″ she gets impressive power on her shows and her forehand is a real weapon. Whether she can repeat this amazing year is a long shot but she has been a joy to watch in 2024.
Donna Vekic has been an impressive grass court player for a while but has never quite made the jump to the big time. This year was agonizingly close for her. She honestly could have won that Wimbledon semifinal against Paolini, but as has often been the case, injury affected her as she was struggling big time in the last few games. With Donna, she ALWAYS looks exhausted and in pain though, so it’s hard to tell! She is one of the glummest players on court – one reason the Wimbledon crowd were behind Paolini and her big smile and bouncy personality. Donna always looks on the point of collapse! However, she is such a talented player. She followed up the Wimbledon semifinal with a silver medal at the Paris Olympics – clay not usually being her best surface. At the US Open, she had a rematch with Qinwen Zheng that was one of the matches of the tournament. However, as it ended at 2.15am, sadly not enough people caught this almost 3 hour thriller. Good to see Vekic have some success, and she has teamed up with Sascha Bajin for 2025 so I think she is going to give it everything.
Karolina Muchova is probably one of the most talented, but most unlucky players on the tour. To watch her play her elegant tennis is just a joy and converts pretty much any viewer. However, to watch her finish a tournament and win is less common! With one 250 title to her name, Muchova has been one to watch for so long. Despite the many injuries, it will be a big year for her in 2025 to see if she can win a title – but the biggest prayer for any tennis fan: LET KAROLINA MUCHOVA BE INJURY FREE! She didn’t play at all until the grass at Eastbourne but ended the year well, making the semifinals of the US Open, taking out Naomi Osaka, Beatriz Haddad Maia (another on the 28-year-old list!) and Jamine Paolini. She had made the semi final in 2023 and was looking at a big rankings fall if she failed to defend those points after so long out after wrist surgery. She was soon thrilling tennis watchers with insane points like this:
Matching that result and making the semis again in 2024 was huge, but it was the style of her play that was so captivating. She was totally dominating Jessica Pegula in the semifinal – Pegula later said Muchova made her look like a beginner (although to be fair to the ever-modest Jess, she was still on a bit of a high after beating Iga Swiatek and came out flat.) Muchova was magnificent… until she wasn’t! Leading 6-1, 2-0, Muchova missed a volley for a 3-0 double break lead. You could see her belief drop just a tad, while Pegula dug in and raised her game significantly.
Similarly, Muchova made the final of the Bejing 1000 after beating Aryna Sabalenka – who was on a 15-match winning streak. She faced Coco Gauff in the final and just didn’t show up. Coco is not a good match up for Karolina, but after taking out Qinwen Zheng easily, it was disappointing. However, after a month in the doldrums, this final was the turning point for Coco Gauff’s late season rise, and went on to win the WTA finals and really looks the business. Maybe she should say thank you to Karolina Muchova? Still, after an awful, injury hit start to the year, Muchova showed once again why so many of us love to watch her play. Fingers crossed for fitness!
Katie Boulter had a season to remember winning 2 titles in 2024. Early on, it was the biggest of her career, the 500 level title in San Diego and on the grass, she defended her Nottingham title. Boulter ALMOST carried Great Britain to the Billie Jean King Cup finals, when she led Sramkova (more on her in a bit) and was a set away from victory. Unfortunately, Boulter faltered! However, she’s cemented herself in the top 30 and has just announced her engagement to fellow tennis player, the likable Aussie Alex DeMinaur. I’m not sure if Boulter has much more in her, but a great year nevertheless.
I first saw Rebecca Sramkova play live in Rome earlier this year – beating Katie Boulter actually – in a late night match on a small court. I was one of about 10 Brits cheering on Katie. Sramkova was annoyingly good (but I still think she scuffed out a ball mark she KNEW was in!!) I still bear a grudge against her for beating Petra Kvitova in round 1 of the 2021 Prague tournament when Petra was top seed. However, it is impossible to deny she had a fantastic end of 2024. She made the final in Tunisia – losing out to Brit Sonnay Kartal – only to jump on a plane and win the tournament in Thailand just days later. She was also an absolute warrior for Slovakia in their run to the finals of the Billie Jean King Cup. For a player who only made her top 100 debut in May, she was one of the absolute stars of the year. Sramkova is partially sighted in her left eye and for a player to make this progress at the age she is? A great story and if she can maintain her form, she could cause the top players problems as a dangerous floater at the Australian Open.
Taylor Townsend finally got her grand slam title this year alongside Katerina Siniakova. Both in their 28th year, Siniakova once again shone in doubles. She won 5 titles with 5 different partners and the Olympics mixed doubles gold medal with Tomas Machac. As year-end number 1 for the fourth time, Siniakova is a doubles legend. However, Taylor needs to say a big thank you to Storm Hunter’s Achilles tendon! After Siniakova and Krejcikova decided to end their successful partnership, Siniakova had paired up with Aussie Storm Hunter. They had reached the semifinals in Australia (and that semifinal against Hsieh and Mertens was one of the best matches of the year, singles or doubles!) Unfortunately for poor Stormy, she tore her Achilles while on BJK Cup duties in Australia in April. Townsend had an agreement to play with Bia Haddad Maia but apparently Siniakova messaged her about playing together. Poor Bia got dropped like a hot potato! This looked like a good move as the pair stormed to the Wimbledon title and made the WTA finals final. I like their dynamic on court. Siniakova might be the best doubles player of her generation, but she can get moody on court. Taylor is extremely positive and also has a terrific serve and excellent volleys. The pair are due to play together in 2025 and I will be surprised if they do NOT win a slam to be honest.
Oh you know about this one. Krejcikova, Wimbledon Champion. Nuff said…
Yes, a good year for the 28-year-olds!