The ITF has announced its list of 2024 ITF World Champions presented by UNIQLO.
As always, the awards celebrate the achievements of established professionals, but also aspiring and emerging talent – players that have the potential to develop into the stars of tomorrow. This very much feeds into the ITF’s mission of promoting and developing tennis around the world, while at the same time securing and improving the sport for future generations.
To that end, Nicolai Budkov Kjaer of Norway and Australian Emerson Jones have been named junior World Champions after finishing 2024 as the year-end No. 1 players.
Budkov Kjaer is the first Norwegian World Champion in any category and the award follows an outstanding Junior Grand Slam season that saw him win Wimbledon, reach the final at the US Open and semi-finals at the Australian Open.
Jones, still only 16, was also rewarded for her performances at the biggest events, winning the ITF World Tennis Tour Junior Finals in Chengdu and reaching the final of the Australian Open and Wimbledon.
The Queenslander has already made a big impression in 2025. Earlier this month, she claimed her maiden victory – in her first match – against a Top 50 opponent when she defeated World No. 37 Wang Xinyu at the WTA’s Adelaide International.
Budkov Kjaer and Jones are looking to follow in the footsteps of former junior ITF World Champions Joao Fonseca, Belinda Bencic, Roger Federer, Victoria Azarenka, Andy Roddick, Amelie Mauresmo Stefan Edberg and Martina Hingis.
Sinner and Swiatek named ITF World Champions
Jannik Sinner of Italy and Poland’s Iga Swiatek, meanwhile, are men’s and women’s singles World Champions.
Sinner becomes the first Italian man or woman to be named singles World Champion. He achieved the world No. 1 year-end ranking for the first time, after winning two Grand Slam titles at the Australian Open and US Open, the ATP Finals, and boasting a 73-6 win-loss record for the year. He led Italy to their second successive Davis Cup triumph in Malaga.
Swiatek narrowly edged out year-end No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka to become women’s World Champion having previously received this honour in 2022. The Polish player captured her fourth Roland Garros title by the age of 23, and won four WTA 1000 titles during the year.
She saved some of her best performances when representing her country, winning a bronze medal at the Paris 2024 Olympic Tennis Event and leading Poland to the Billie Jean King Cup semifinals in Malaga.
The ITF World Champions are selected based on objective criteria considering all results from the season, placing special emphasis on Grand Slam tournaments, the ITF’s World Cup of Tennis competitions Davis Cup and Billie Jean King Cup by Gainbridge, the Olympic Tennis Event and Paralympic Wheelchair Tennis Event.
ITF World Champions in doubles confirmed
Marcelo Arevalo of El Salvador and Mate Pavic of Croatia, and Italian duo Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini are named doubles World Champions.
Arevalo and Pavic enjoyed a dream debut season as a pairing in 2024, winning Roland Garros and three other titles, and reaching the final of the ATP Finals to end the year as the No. 1 team. This is an historic first ITF World Champion award for El Salvador, while Pavic is World Champion for a second time having won with compatriot Nikola Mektic in 2021.
Errani and Paolini’s outstanding performances for Italy see them emerge as World Champions. The duo won an historic gold medal at Paris 2024, and went on to lead Italy to the Billie Jean King Cup title in Malaga, winning two deciding doubles matches. This is the fourth time 37-year-old Errani has been named women’s doubles World Champion, having won three awards with compatriot Roberta Vinci.
Oda, De Groot and Schroder given World Champs accolade
Tokito Oda of Japan, and Dutch duo Diede De Groot and Sam Schroder are wheelchair World Champions in the men’s, women’s and quad categories respectively by ending the year at No. 1 on the single rankings.
Eighteen-year-old Oda becomes the youngest ever wheelchair World Champion after winning men’s singles gold at Paris 2024, and two of the year’s three Grand Slam titles at the Australian Open and Roland Garros. Despite an injury-hit year, De Groot is named World Champion for the sixth successive occasion, winning her 15th successive Slam at Wimbledon and securing the silver medal in Paris.
Schroder edged out compatriot Niels Vink to become quad World Champion for the first time, after winning the Australian Open, and finishing as runner-up at the Paralympics, Roland Garros and Wimbledon.
ITF President David Haggerty said: “Congratulations to all our 2024 ITF World Champions. Last year was a memorable year for our sport with the staging of the Olympic and Paralympic Games alongside our traditional team events, and we see with several of our award winners that representing their country inspired them to even greater achievements in 2024. We wish these and all players every success in 2025.”
