Tennis: Draper, Raducanu and Murray among British stars looking to shine

The turn of the year tends to coincide with a forecast of the greatest sports events to put into the diary, and tennis is always one of the earliest entries.

The Australian Open and its warm-up tournaments take up the entirety of January before the major tour events and remaining three Grand Slams slot in place to complete the year.

And British tennis could be on for a positive year with a number of stars returning from injury or continuing on an upward trajectory.

Here’s a whistle-stop tour of who to watch for and what they could achieve this year.

Men singles

This calendar year is looking like the last for Andy Murray (ATP rank No40) though he has not confirmed his plans to retire. The three-time Grand Slam winner could bow out in an Olympic year, an event he has won gold in twice in his career. He lost in his Australia warm-up match to Grigor Dimitrov but the 36-year-old, now into his 20th season on the ATP Tour, will be in Melbourne next week.

The highest ranked Brit Cameron Norrie (No19)’s best run at a Grand Slam last year saw him reach the third round of the French and Australian major tournaments. He’s a solid player with five career titles but hasn’t been able to take over Murray’s mantle of winning slams. He’s played well in the United Cup this year, beating Alex de Minaur, but will need to string results together.

For 2015 Davis Cup winner Dan Evans (rank No38) Grand Slams haven’t been too promising. He’s yet to reach a quarter-final and has just two career titles to his name. That said, one of those – the Washington Open – came in 2023 so you can argue that he’s in as good a shape as he has been. It’s a big year for the Brit, 33, and you can expect him to target some of the wider tour events.

Jack Draper (No60) is the most promising men’s tennis player on the British circuit at the moment. The 22-year-old has never gotten past the first round of the Australian Open but he has won 12 titles on the ATP Challenge and ITF Futures tours, his latest being last year, and last month won the UTS Grand Final exhibition event – banking over £400,000.

Women’s singles

Emma Raducanu may be ranked No301 on the WTA list but she will appear at this month’s Grand Slam due to a combination of injuries to others and her protected ranking (given to her due to injuries of her own). She made a winning return to tennis last Tuesday but lost on Thursday (to seeded Elina Svitolina) in Auckland. She’ll be looking to find the 2021 form that saw her win a surprise Grand Slam.

Katie Boulter (WTA rank No57) is the highest ranked British woman at the moment and will be looking to kick on from her first career title (Nottingham Open 2023) in 2024. Last year’s US Open saw Boulter enter at the main draw stage for the first time ever and the Brit will be aiming to keep her ranking high enough to continue that trend through 2024.

Jodie Burrage (WTA rank No99) has a best Grand Slam result of the third round, which she achieved last year at the Australian Open, and the 24-year-old will be hoping that 2024 brings her first senior career title. She lost to fellow Brit Boulter in the Nottingham Open final last year and will undoubtedly be aiming for her first tour win.

Doubles

Great Britain is blessed with some top doubles players and Brits featured in two Grand Slam titles last year – Joe Salisbury (ATP rank No7) at the US Open and Neal Slupski (rank No9) at Wimbledon. 

There has been less success in the women’s doubles but steady triumphs in the mixed – Skupski and Salisbury have four mixed titles between them since 2021.

Watch out for Maia Lumsden (rank No72) and Heather Watson (No74) who could be serious challengers as British women look to add to recent doubles success.

Progression watch

Sometimes players’ careers make a mark when they’re at their most youthful. Raducanu won the US Open as a teenager in 2021 but 14-year-old Hannah Klugman has made history of her own in 2023.

The Brit won the prestigious U18 Orange Bowl in Florida, the first ever player from the British Isles to lift the trophy.

She won’t be winning Grand Slams this year but her progress in the youth competitions and the junior Grand Slams against older competitors will be worth keeping an eye on.

So there you have it; British tennis is in a place of depth but without the serial success of some other nations. There’s talent in the pathway and now it is about converting that on the biggest stages.

As we have seen with Raducanu, though, it doesn’t take much for momentum to swing in your favour, and that’s something the Brits can hold on to as they fight for titles in 2024.