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The 2024 Wimbledon Championships came to a close on 14 July, Sunday. Among the prominent winners, Carlos Alcaraz won his fourth Grand Slam title in the men's singles, whereas Barbora Krejcikova bagged her second Grand Slam title to win the women's singles.
However, just like the common trend at Majors, there were some players in the event who made a name for themselves and had breakthrough moments in their tennis careers. On the women's side, it was Lulu Sun of New Zealand, and Donna Vekic of Croatia, whereas Lorenzo Musetti of Italy was the breakout performer on the men's side.
Let's look at the players who were the breakout performers at the 2024 Wimbledon Championships
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# 3 Lulu Sun
The qualifier from New Zealand made heads turn at the 2024 Wimbledon Championships. Lulu Sun started her campaign at the grass-court major at the qualifying stage. The Kiwi overcame Miriam Bianca Bulgaru, Gabriela Knutson, and Alex Eala during the qualifiers. In the match against Knutson, Sun recovered after facing match points and won the encounter.
Sun started the main draw with an upset, winning against the 2024 Australian Open runner-up and eighth-seeded Qinwen Zheng. Shen then defeated Yulia Starodubtseva and Zhu Lin in the successive rounds. Sun faced off against the crowd favorite and former US Open champion Emma Raducanu in the fourth round. The Kiwi prevailed over the Brit after a tough three-set battle.
Sun lost against Donna Vekic of Croatia in the quarterfinals in three sets. The left-handed Kiwi matched the feat of Belinda Cromwell and became only the second woman to reach the quarterfinal of a Major. Her Wimbledon exploits have enabled Sun to move up by 70 positions on the WTA rankings, and currently sit a career-best ranking of 53.
# 2 Donna Vekic
Donna Vekic achieved a career milestone at the 2024 Wimbledon Championship as she made her first Grand Slam semifinal. The Croatian had previously made it to the quarterfinals of the US Open in 2019 and the Australian Open in 2023. She lost to Belinda Bencic and Aryna Sabalenka on those occasions.
At the Championships this year, Vekic began her campaign with a tricky three-set win over Wang Xiyu. She won her only straight-set victory at the event against Erika Andreeva in the second round. She had to battle past a tough opponent like the 28th-seeded Dayana Yastremksa in three sets in the third round. Vekic then defeated former World No.2 Paula Badosa in another three-set thriller in the fourth round.
Vekic faced off against tournament sensation Lulu Sun in the quarterfinals. The Croatian again made a remarkable comeback after losing the first set and winning the match. In the semifinal, Vekic suffered a heartbreaking loss against seventh-seeded Jasmine Paolini after playing the longest semifinal in the history of women's singles at Wimbledon.
Her performance has seen Vekic rise by 16 positions on the WTA rankings and occupy the 21st position. The way she is playing, the Croatian might soon surpass her career-best ranking of 19 in the upcoming months.
# 1 Lorenzo Musetti
Italy's Lorenzo Musetti had his best result at a Major, as he reached the semifinal of the 2024 Wimbledon Championships. The Italian entered the grass-court major with a 7-2 record on grass this year. As the 25th seed, he went past Constant Lestienne and Luciano Darderi in the first two rounds. Against Darderi, Musetti had to recover from being two to one sets down and win the match in five sets.
Musetti had tricky four-set wins over Francisco Comesana and Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard in the next two matches. The Italian had his most impressive win of the event when he defeated the American No. 1 and 13th-seeded Taylor Fritz in his first-ever Grand Slam quarterfinal. However, Musetti lost in straight sets against Novak Djokovic in the semifinal.
His performances have seen the Italian improve his ranking by 9 positions. Musetti currently sits at the 15th position, being only adrift by a little over 100 points from 14th-placed Ugo-Humbert. A good showing in the upcoming har-court season will see the Italian surpass his best ranking of 15.
