Jan Choinski has targeted a Wimbledon return next year but wants to get there in his own right.
German-born Choinski, the son of an English ballet dancer, was handed a debut wild card and rewarded tournament organisers with an impressive first-round win against world number 56 Dusan Lajovic.
But his fun ended on Thursday when his former doubles partner Hubert Hurkacz won a tight match 6-4 6-4 7-6 (3) on Court 18.
The 26-year-old, who changed his nationality to British in 2019 and is ranked 164th in the world, got the taste for SW19 and wants a 2024 repeat.
“I would be very happy coming back next year,” he said. “Maybe even without needing a wild card for the main draw, try my best to get my ranking to a position where I can enter the tournament by myself.”
Asked whether he has proven he can produce at the top level, he replied: “Yes, I think so. I mean, I played a very good first match.
“I kept it as close as possible. Also having chances to win a set off a guy (Hurkacz) that’s top 20, previously been top 10 in the world, played semi-finals here as well, ended Roger’s (Federer) career at Wimbledon.
“It doesn’t get much better than his level in terms of tennis and grass-court tennis.
“Keeping the match quite close and having my chances to take a set off him, as well, is just positive.
“I couldn’t thank the people more that gave me the opportunity to play in this tournament. I feel it has to do with a lot of trust, as well, trusting me that I’ve got the level to compete at this level. Yeah, just want to say huge thanks.
“I have learnt a lot during the past couple of days. I think just going to take out all the positive bits, and also super happy about winning my first grand slam match.”
Choinski was always up against it, saving break points early on, but Hurkacz, who made the 2021 semi-finals at SW19, kept knocking on the door and crucially made the breakthrough at 4-4 and then served the first set out.
The second set followed an identical pattern with a key break at 4-4 putting Hurkacz in firm control.
After saving several break points throughout the third set, Choinski’s moment came at 6-5 when he had three set points at 0-40 on Hurkacz’s serve, but he could not convert them.
With that his chance disappeared as the Pole dominated the tie-break to seal a straight-sets win and book his spot in the third round.
He added: “I felt like I was playing good tennis. The match was very competitive. We played over two hours. I think the first two sets were decided each by one break.
“I tried my best. You know, unlucky that I got broken twice at 4-4. Then in the third set when I had the three set points, I’m sad about not making those, but that’s tennis. That’s life.”
Raducanu raring to go in 2025 as she takes pride in 'unheard of' achievement
Emma Raducanu is already excited to get going in 2025 after reflecting positively on the past 12 months.
The 22-year-old impressed for Great Britain in their Billie Jean King Cup victories over Germany and Canada last week.
Raducanu has struggled with regular injury issues since her remarkable 2021 US Open triumph, but she believes some perspective is needed.
"My assessment is, I think sometimes I need reminding," she told the WTA's official website of her 2024 campaign.
"I'm top 60 in the world and I have played less than 15 events, which is pretty unheard of, in a way.
"I have to pat myself on the back for that. I know I'm a dangerous player. I know no-one wants to pull my name in the draw.
"I take pride in that, and I'm looking forward to hopefully staying on court longer next year."
Raducanu, ranked number 58 in the world, is returning to action in Malaga after two months out with a foot injury.
She will have a part to play when Britain take on Slovenia in Wednesday's semi-finals as she looks to extend her season further.
And a bullish Raducanu intends to work hard on the court heading into the New Year, with the Australian Open fast approaching.
"I think traditionally you'd probably have a bit of a break and take a holiday or something," Raducanu said.
"But I feel like I have had four, five weeks off tennis, and I don't really need any more time off.
"If anything, I'm excited and just itching to get on the practice court, and of course seeing some of my performances this week, it just incentivises me to do more work.
"I'm really pleased with how I've fought and how I'm faring up against these top girls. I feel like I'm in a pretty good spot with my tennis right now."
Eight titles, two grand slams and 70 match wins: Sinner's spectacular 2024
As far as seasons go, you won't find many better than Jannik Sinner's 2024 campaign.
The 23-year-old had long been assured of his place at the top of the ATP rankings heading into 2025, but to further cement his dominance of the men's circuit, Sinner dominated the ATP Finals in Turin last week.
Sinner's 6-4 6-4 defeat of Taylor Fritz ensured he became the first ATP Finals champion since Ivan Lendl in 1986 to win the tournament without dropping a single set.
He became the seventh player to win the event on home soil, and the first Italian champion, as he made it eight titles for the year, including the Australian Open and US Open.
Here, we recap Sinner's brilliant year using Opta's treasure trove of data.
Breakout major success
It almost seems strange to think Sinner began 2024 without a grand slam title to his name. That soon changed at the Australian Open, though, as he defeated Daniil Medvedev in a classic, five-set final.
Sinner did things the hard way at Melbourne Park, also overcoming Andrey Rublev in the quarter-finals and Novak Djokovic in the last four.
At the age of 22 years and 165 days, he became the youngest player to ever achieve successive wins over ATP top-five opponents in the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final of a grand slam, surpassing Michael Stich, who did so at the age of 22 years and 262 days at Wimbledon 1991.
That triumph also made him only the third Italian man to win a grand slam, after French Open champions Nicola Pietrangeli (1959 and 1960) and Adriano Panatta (1976).
By beating Djokovic, Sinner became the first Italian to defeat the ATP's top-ranked player at a major, with Italians previously going 0-23 in such matches since the ATP Rankings were first published in 1973.
Sinner would also record a final victory over Djokovic at the Shanghai Masters later in the year, becoming the first player on record to not face a single break point in back-to-back tour-level meetings with the Serbian.
Slam consistency
Of course, Sinner later followed up his Australian Open triumph by clinching the US Open crown, downing home favourite Fritz in the Flushing Meadows final.
Those major wins were two of seven triumphs for Sinner at hard-court events this year, making him just the fifth player to win seven or more finals on the surface in a year, after Andre Agassi (1995), Pete Sampras (1996), Roger Federer (2004-06) and Djokovic (2015).
But perhaps his remarkable consistency across all four grand slams is what stands out most.
Sinner reached at least the quarter-finals at each of 2024's majors, losing to Carlos Alcaraz in the French Open semi-finals and Medvedev in the last eight at Wimbledon.
At 23 years and 17 days, he became the third-youngest man in the Open Era to reach the quarter-finals at all four slams in a single season, after Sampras in 1993 (22 years and 18 days) and Rafael Nadal in 2008 (22 years and 83 days).
Sinner won 23 matches overall at grand slams this year, with no other player on the ATP Tour bringing up 20 (Alcaraz managed 19).
Top of the world
Following his defeat to Djokovic in the showpiece match at the 2023 ATP Finals, Sinner sat fourth in the ATP Rankings 12 months ago.
He had already clinched top spot for 2024 as early as October 15, when he beat Djokovic in straight sets in the Shanghai Open final.
Since changes were made to the distribution of ranking points in 2009, only two players have ever sewn up top spot earlier – Djokovic in 2015 (September 14) and Nadal in 2010 (September 20).
No Italian had previously topped the ATP Rankings, and few could deny Sinner was a deserving recipient of the accolade. His 70 match wins were the most of any player on the ATP Tour in 2024, while his 92.1% win rate is the best by any player since 2015, when Djokovic won 93.2% of his contests.
Sinner did not let the pressure of being number one affect him, either, going 37-3 since first taking top spot. His 92.5% win rate is the best by any male world number one by some distance, dwarfing Bjorn Borg's 80.4%.
With Djokovic turning 38 next year, most would agree Sinner's breakout season has been good for men's tennis, teeing up what could be a long period of dominance by the Italian and his rival Alcaraz.
His star should continue to rise in 2025.
Retiring Nadal staving off emotions until Davis Cup campaign is over
Rafael Nadal will not let his emotions get the better of him as he focuses on helping Spain win the Davis Cup Finals.
The tournament takes place in Malaga this week, and will mark the end of Nadal's glittering career.
Nadal, a 22-time grand slam champion, confirmed his retirement in October.
But the 38-year-old made it clear he is not treating the Davis Cup as a farewell tour.
"If I am on court, hopefully not, no, because at the end I am not here for retiring," he said when asked if he would be emotional during the competition.
"I'm here to try to help the team.
"Then it's of course going to be my last week on the professional tour, but at the end, we are here in a teams competition.
"The most important thing here is to try to help the team and to stay all focused on what we have to do, which is to play tennis and do it very well.
"Because the rivals are going to be difficult, and the conditions are difficult, too. So then the emotions are going to be for the end.
"To play my last event in Spain, it's something that I am very happy with. Because I will never have the chance to thank enough everybody here in Spain, the support that I receive and the love that I felt."
Spain take on the Netherlands in the opening matches of the Finals on Tuesday, with Germany or Canada their potential semi-final opponents.
Though with Nadal having not played a competitive match since he lost to Novak Djokovic at the Olympics in August, Spain captain David Ferrer is unsure if he will be ready to feature against the Dutch.
"I have not decided the players that are going to play," Ferrer said.
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