How Aryna Sabalenka, Iga Swiatek, and Barbora Krejcikova snapped a 10-year run in 2024
There was a familiar feel to women’s Grand Slam action in 2024.
The year started with successful title defences for Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek at the Australian Open and French, wins that cemented their positions as the two best players in the women’s game.
However, a surprise Wimbledon saw former Roland Garros champion Barbora Krejcikova surge to the title at SW19 – before Sabalenka completed the hard court sweep with her US Open win on Saturday.
Heading into 2024, all three women could already claim to be Grand Slam champions, adding to their legacies with further triumphs over the past nine months.
What their successes mean is, that for the first time since 2014, no new Grand Slam women’s singles champion has been crowned this season.
A 10-year run ends
Few will be surprised that Swiatek and Sabalenka won Grand Slam titles this season.
World No 1 Swiatek has now won three French Open titles in a row and four in the space of five years, cementing her place as one of the greatest clay court players of all time.
Meanwhile, Sabalenka has arguably cemented her spot as the leading hard court player on the WTA Tour, winning three of the last four major titles up for grabs on the surface – and reaching all four finals.
The biggest shock this year was of course Krejcikova, with the former world No 2 not expected to factor at Wimbledon – where she came in out-of-form and as the 31st seed.
But the Czech knows how to win singles majors, having won the French Open in 2021, and is now a two-time Grand Slam singles champion.
You have to go back a decade to the last time all four Grand Slam singles titles were won by previous major champions.
That year, Li Na won her second and final major title at the Australian Open, before Maria Sharapova won the last of five Grand Slams at the French Open.
