5 players who underperformed at the WTA Tour 2024 ft. Ons Jabeur and Naomi Osaka
The 2024 season was memorable for quite a few names, but largely forgettable for the likes of Ons Jabeur and Naomi Osaka. The two were among the notable players who failed to make their presence felt this year.
Be it injuries or a plain loss of form, players go through it all. The gruesome sport of modern-day tennis, however, waits for none. The clock keeps ticking as we move from one tournament to the other.
But with the dust finally settled on the 2024 season, it is a good time to look at some of the big names who underperformed at the WTA Tour this year:
#5 Naomi Osaka
The 2024 season was the first full season that Naomi Osaka has played since her return from maternity leave. It can, however, be described as modest at best.
The former World No. 1 did not win back-to-back matches on Tour till Qatar Open. A second quarterfinal did not come until two surface changes at the grass courts of ’s-Hertogenbosch. She did have an encouraging showing at the French Open where she had Iga Swiatek on the ropes, but little to show outside of that result.
Results began to dry up once again after ’s-Hertogenbosch as Osaka failed to win consecutive matches for the remainder of the season. For someone who has won back-to-back Grand Slams twice in her career, that’s a significant step-down. Her negative 3-4 win-loss record at the 2024 Slams just about sums up her year.
#4 Leylah Fernandez
Leylah Fernandez took out three top-5 players en route to her maiden, and till date only, Grand Slam final at the 2021 US Open. In stark contrast, Fernandez only managed to win one set in the 2024 edition of the tournament.
Things looked like they were picking up for the talented southpaw when she beat Australian Open finalist Zheng Qinwen in Qatar and Elena Rybakina in Cincinnati but she has been far too inconsistent in recent times.
Fernandez has shown that she can play well on all surfaces. She is a junior French Open champ, the US Open final came on the quick hardcourts and she was in fact in a WTA 500 final on grass this year. But she hasn’t been able to string together those results.
Streaky play has derailed her progress far too often and her Grand Slam record has been poor since the run in New York. She went 4-4 on the big stage this season and barring those brief periods of promise mentioned earlier, had a largely forgettable time on court.
#3 Maria Sakkari
Maria Sakkari has not been at her best for quite some time now. That said, a change of team looked like it might just do the trick for her back in March. Alas, the joy was short-lived.
The Greek teamed up with David Witt and, after a slow start of the season, made the Indian Wells final. That was the first and last result worth recalling for her.
The season was a train wreck after the Sunshine Double as she exited the French Open in the opening round, barely won any matches on grass, stumbled at the Paris Olympics, and ultimately called it a season at the US Open after struggling with a shoulder injury.
With a ranking of No. 31, her lowest in five years, Sakkari will look to recover well and reset ahead of the 2025 season.
#2 Marketa Vondrousova
A lot was expected from Marketa Vondrousova after her surprise but deserved Wimbledon's success last year. And for a minute, it looked like she might come good on the promise.
The 2024 season, however, is not one that the Czech will look back at too fondly. A 6-1, 6-2 loss to Dayana Yastremska at the Australian Open was something straight out of a nightmare.
And just when it looked like she would steady the ship on clay, courtesy of a semifinal run at Stuttgart and a quarterfinal at the French Open, injury played spoilsport.
A hand injury hampered her practice in the lead-up to Wimbledon, where she was the defending champion. When she finally got there, Vondrousova, admittedly flustered by the occasion, became the first defending champion in 30 years to fall at the tournament’s first hurdle.
The Czech did not play at any other tournament and underwent surgery and will, for now, be focussed on recovery.
#1 Ons Jabeur
Not long ago, Ons Jabeur was contesting Grand Slam finals for fun. The fact that she won back-to-back matches only on five occasions (and not once on hardcourts) throughout the season is nothing short of a shock.
The Tunisian had her health concerns in 2024 but even when she was, or at least looked, fit, the results were just not flowing as smoothly. April was the first time that she staged a deep run, making the Madrid Open quarterfinal, a result that she repeated at the French Open.
Jabeur’s run in Paris was her only respectable one at Grand Slams. Her natural affinity for grass kept her afloat, with passable runs at Nottingham and Berlin keeping her in the conversation. She was, however, bested by Elina Svitolina at Wimbledon and injuries elsewhere.
The three-time Grand Slam finalist barely played after Wimbledon and ended her season early to nurse a shoulder injury. Her ranking has plummeted all the way to No. 42, way down from her last season’s closing of No. 6. She will look to start afresh and rediscover the joy and ease that she so often brought to the court.