The first grand slam of the year is done and dusted. I think we can all safely say that it has been some way to start the tennis year in 2024. So many tight matches were played. Some people were talking about the fact that the mens grand slam matches take to long and they should be 3 sets and not 5 but I think after this grand slam those people should know that they are wrong. The 5 set format is unbeatable and always creates drama and tension. The final would have been different if it was 3 sets as Zverev would have beaten Medvedev and well the final outcome would also have been different. Well done to all the players for putting on a show for us spectators. It has been a joy to watch over the last 2 weeks.

Onto the grand slam final and to be very honest, I think it would be very tough to put that final into words. Both players played outstanding, first of all throughout the whole tournament but they certainly put on a show in the final with some brilliant shot making. The start of the match was always going to be difficult for Sinner as it was his first grand slam final compared to Medvedev’s 6th grand slam final. Medvedev came out with an aggressive mindset and wow did he execute well in the opening 2 sets winning them both 6-3. Sinner did well to break back at 5-1 down in the 2nd set and make it a more respectable score. The 3rd set was tight as Sinner started to improve and Medvedev’s level started to drop just a little. Medvedev let one service game slip at 4-5 and the 3rd set was done and Sinner was back in the match. Medvedev had been in this position before as he lost the Aussie Open final from 2 sets to love up against Nadal in 2022. The 4th set looked like it could be the set to decide the match as Medvedev looked like he was tiring while Sinner looked to be improving every minute that went by. Medvedev brought up a break point at 3-3 in the 4th but was unable to convert which will haunt him a bit because against Nadal 2 years ago he also failed to convert break points to put the match away. Sinner broke again in the 10th game to take the 4th set 6-4 just as he had taken the 3rd. We were going the distance. The tides had changed now as it was now Medvedev who was struggling to hold on to his serve while Sinner was holding more comfortably now. The Italian managed to break in the 6th game to make it 4-2 and then held to be just 1 game away from a grand slam title. Medvedev held to force the 22 year old Italian to serve it out. The game started perfectly for Sinner who found himself 30-0 up before 2 nervy shots made it 30-30. The shot that had done him so well throughout the whole tournament…his forehand got him out of trouble as he hit 2 winners to seal the title, he very first grand slam. Well played to Medvedev who played 3 5 set matches in a row to finish the tournament. He also spent 24 hours and 17 minutes on court throughout the tournament which is the most amount of time spent on court at a single grand slam in history. Can Sinner now reach number 1 in the world? and can he possibly lift another grand slam in 2024? His form right now says that anything is possible for this 22 year old Italian.

Onto the long awaited fantasy leaderboard and I am sure it has been a nervous wait for some of you.

In 1st place, is not ‘Tennis Addicts’ but rather it is ‘Lorna’s Lucky 13’. The top 2 were separated by just 3 points at the end with Lorna’s Lucky 13 finishing on 260 points in total. The win came down to the last match because ‘Tennis Addicts’ had Medvedev and ‘Lorna’s Lucky 13’ had Sinner. So at 2 sets to love it looked as if ‘Tennis Addicts’ had it in the bag but unfortunately it was not to be. This incredibly is Lorna’s 3rd fantasy league win so clearly she has a tactic which is working for her. Lorna did pick both winner’s in the end which does help when fighting for the winner’s spot. Congratulations to Lorna who walks away with the top prize of R1200.

In 2nd Place, is yesterday’s leader ‘Tennis Addicts’. This will be a tough one to swallow for them as they led many times throughout the tournament and looked to be in the driving seat until the very last day. If you all remember at last years US Open, this same thing happened which makes me think that maybe heading into the final day you would rather want to be in 2nd than 1st. ‘Tennis Addicts’ were also the only team in the top 14 to not have both winners. This just proves that having a great team is better than having great individuals. ‘Tennis Addicts’ may be disappointed but still take a R500 for 2nd place. Well done to them!

In 3rd place remained ‘Faulty Feet’. They kept their 3rd spot by just 1 point over 4th but finished 9 points off 2nd and 12 points off our leader. They remained in the top 5 for a long period of time but unfortunately did not have the players to push any higher than 3rd. The will take home a nice R350 for their 3rd place finish.

In 4th place and moving up a spot from yesterday was ‘Left is Best’. If the final had a different outcome they may have moved up even further because they had both Sinner and Medvedev while ‘Faulty Feet’ had just Sinner. It was an impressive performance from them as they hung around in the top 10 for a while before they pushed into the prize positions during week 2 of the tournament. I am sure they will be very happy as they will be taking R250 for the 4th place finish.

In 5th place and unfortunately losing out on R100 as they were overtaken by ‘Left is Best’ on the final day is ‘Serve with Eish’. Amazingly enough the same person who entered ‘Faulty Feet’ also entered ‘Serve with Eish’. So out of her 3 teams entered, 2 of them gave her a return. Serve with Eish always seemed to be in the mix but unfortunately at the latter end of the grand slam they could not hold onto the top spots and had to settle for 5th. They will be taking home R150 for their 5th place finish.

And finally because we had so many entries we were able to have a 6th place prize. The team who came 6th was ‘Hopeful 2’ who came from nowhere to finish in 6th. They moved up 3 spots on the final day as they had both men’s finalists while others only had 1. If my memory serves me right I do not think they really featured in the prize positions until now so they certainly left it late. This was a surprise as ‘Aussie Guess’ who was a constant team in the top 5 did not finish with a prize and missed out by 1 point and 1 position. Heartbreaking stuff…but congratulations to ‘Hopeful 2’ who take away R100 for their 6th place finish.

Lastly our wooden spoon winner. ‘Match point’ who finished on a disappointing 89 points will be taking home our wooden spoon until the French Open begins. Congratulations to them.

Well done to each and every one of you. This grand slam was certainly not an easy one to predict but that is what makes the fantasy league exciting so I was not complaining. Thank you all for entering and supporting. Without the entries there would be no fun and no prize money so thank you all for making this fantasy league possible.

The full leaderboard is below:
Blue: Means the team picked both the men’s and ladies winners (Sinner and Sabalenka)
Yellow: Means the team picked either the men’s or ladies winner.
Red: The team did not have any of the eventual winners.

Mens Final Result

• Sinner(4) beat Medvedev(3) – 3-6; 3-6; 6-4; 6-4; 6-3

The winning team was ‘Lorna’s Lucky 13’. Here is her team:

The best team of males went to 25th placed ‘PhenomeNonadal’.

Our best team of ladies went to our runner-up, Tennis Addicts.

Now onto the best team that you could have picked – The Dream Team

Some Special Mentions not in the dream team

• Djokovic – 37 points
• Alcaraz – 35 points
• Zverev – 32 points
• Cazaux – 24 points (Could have picked either Borges or Cazaux)

• Noskova – 32 points
• Kalinskaya – 29 points
• Kostyuk – 28 points
• Andreeva – 25 points

Can’t wait to see all you for the French Open!