With a new calendar year beginning, tennis fans start to become excited about the 12 months ahead. The turn of a new year means that there is a new season for them to enjoy as it all begins again.
January begins with highly competitive tennis, as the first Grand Slam of the year is contested. Athletes who qualify will each compete at the Australian Open, thus getting straight into the hard-court action that enthusiasts love.
Numerous top and elite competitions will then take place before the second Grand Slam of the year, with the Roland Garros French Open testing the very best on its unique clay surface before the famed grass tournament of Wimbledon takes centre stage in the calendar during a British summer. The US Open completes the Grand Slam schedule in the early autumn, although there is still plenty of tennis to be played at various levels until the end of the year.
What is the 2024 Grand Slam Schedule?
Die-hard enthusiasts of the sport will likely have already circled the dates in their calendars, but many casual observers of the sport may not have them already marked.
The following dates have been scheduled for each Grand Slam:
● Australian Open – Sunday 14 January – Sunday 28 January
● Roland Garros French Open – Monday 20 May – Sunday 9 June
● Wimbledon – Monday 1 July – Sunday 14 July
● US Open – Monday 26 August – Sunday 8 September
Given the popularity of these tournaments and how competitive they are, they have become a popular wagering event for sports bettors, too. There are many who like to watch and place bets on markets that include individual matches or future outcomes, as well as those who like to make predictions in-play on certain prop bets. Bettors who like to dabble in Grand Slam betting can already find various odds made available at the 32 Red Sport site, which can give them a good idea about what is expected to happen and potentially provide them with some value ahead of the tournaments.
Could we have a player to win all of the Grand Slams in 2024?
Winning all the Grand Slams in a single year is an extremely hard feat, and something not even the very best players have been able to achieve. Don Budge (1938) and Rod Lave (1962 and 1969) are the only players to have been able to do so in the Men’s singles discipline.
For a casual observer, it is hard to comprehend that a player like Novak Djokovic has yet to do it. He has come incredibly close on occasion, having missed out in 2021 when he failed to win the US Open after winning the other three. He almost did it last season, too, but his defeat to Carlos Alcaraz in the Wimbledon final stopped any chance of that happening. He has won all of them consecutively but not in a single calendar year.
So, could the Serbian do it this time around? Many people believe he could, although the odds made available with the bookies currently suggest he may fall short again. They favor him in the Australian Open and Wimbledon but have Alcaraz as the favorite to win the French Open, with Djokovic just behind. The US Open odds are not yet released.
In the women’s side of Grand Slam history, only Maureen Connolly (1953), Margaret Court (1970), and Steffi Graff (1988) – who achieved a Golden Slam – have managed to do it. Martina Navratilova, Steffi Graf and Serena Williams have all done it consecutively, but not in a single year.
We will unlikely see a female player do it this year, either. Iga Świątek is arguably the best player in the discipline, but she has struggled at the Australian Open and Wimbledon, as she has yet to reach the final in either of these Grand Slams. Nonetheless, as she matures, she may be able to take the ability that she has shown at the French Open and the US Open into those tournaments and rewrite the history books forever. She certainly has age on her side, with the Pole just 22 years of age.
Plenty of talent in Tennis
Although there have been individuals who have been able to dominate on the court over the last few years, there has been a huge intake of talent coming through the sport over the last decade or so.
Numerous athletes are rising through the ranks and putting in performances that have wowed spectators and fellow professionals consistently, thus making the sport that much more competitive and better for it. While some names may appear the favorite on paper, this may not always be the case and we could see a player make a name for themselves at any moment at any Grand Slam.
