Thirteen tennis winners and losers from 2023 – including Novak Djokovic, Carlos Alcaraz and Emma Raducanu
The tennis year was filled with joy on so many levels, but there were also some big losers on and off the court over the course of 2023.
Here is your Tennis365 guide to the players who will be heading into the New Year eager for more glory.
Biggest winners – Novak Djokovic and Iga Swiatek
This was a year that saw the world No 1 celebrate his 36th birthday, but there were no signs that the sands of time a catching up with the great Serbian.
Three Grand Slam titles, another ATP Finals win and his retention of the world No 1 ranking confirmed the young guns snapping at his heels have not found a way to take him down yet.
2024 is certain to be an even more testing year for Djokovic, as he admits his body is feeling the strain of 20 years as a professional, with rivals such as Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner getting closer to him over the last 12 months.
In the women’s game, Iga Swiatek ended 2023 as the undisputed queen of the WTA Tour.
A winner in the end-of-year WTA Finals, she heads into the New Year as the world No 1 and the outstanding favourite to win the Australian Open.
Other winners – Aryna Sabalenka, Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner, Coco Gauff
A first Grand Slam title to start 2023 was a major breakthrough moment for Aryna Sabalenka.
After struggling with her serve and breaking down in tears on court due to a crisis in confidence on her previous visit to Australia, the Belarusian found a way to rebuild her belief and become a big winner at last.
It was a similar story for Coco Gauff at the US Open in September, as the American superstar cemented her legacy as one of the greats of the modern game by winning her first major.
Gauff has been one of the biggest stars of women’s tennis for many years now, but she confirmed that the hype around her is justified with her thrilling victory in New York.
Carlos Alcaraz was the other big winner in the men’s game over the last 12 months, with his epic victory over Djokovic in the Wimbledon final instantly etched into tennis folklore as one of the sport’s all-time great matches.
Jannik Sinner was the ATP Tour’s shooting star at the back end of the season, as he recorded wins against Djokovic at the ATP Finals in Trin and in the Davis Cup, where he led Italy to a glorious victory in Malaga.
READ MORE: Twelve players with a winning record against Roger Federer
Must to better – Stefanos Tsitsispas, Maria Sakkari, Cameron Norrie, Emma Raducanu
These three players finished in the top 20 of the rankings in 2023, but they will not have been satisfied with their efforts.
Tsitsipas had a curious season as his 51 wins this year confirm he has a formula to win against lower-ranked opponents, but this Greek star didn’t find a way to win in Grand Slam events consistently after his run to the final of the Australian Open in January.
It was a similar story for his compatriot Sakkari, who lost her way horribly in the second half of this year and broke down in tears in her US Open press conference after a horrible defeat in New York.
There were also plenty of disappointing defeats for Norrie over the last few months, as the British No 1 admitted he was frustrated with his year overall and must do better in 2024.
Norrie’s fellow Brit Emma Raducanu will also be hoping for better success in the New Year, with injury destroying her hopes of shining in the second half of the season.
Biggest losers – Karolina Pliskova, Constant Lestienne, Oscar Otte
Czech star Karolina Pliskova had a miserable 2023.
A two-time Grand Slam Finalist, she had the lowest win percentage of any top player on the WTA Tour, winning 17 and losing 19 times this year.
Now 31, this former world No 1 will be hoping for much more as she heads into 2024.
Statistically, France’s Constant Lestienne had the worst record of the top players on the ATP Tour over the last year.
He won just six of his 25 tour-level matches in 2023 and he ended his year trying to get wins on the second-tier ATP Challenger Tour.
German Oscar Otte also had a year to forget, as he lost 14 of the 20 matches he played at ATP Tour level, with way too many first-round defeats for the 30-year-old.
