Berrettini, Cilic, Nishikori named 2024 player of the year | ATP Awards | ATP Tour

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Berrettini, Cilic, Nishikori named 2024 player of the year

Trio has shown the resilience to excel in the 2024 ATP Tour season

December 04, 2024

Call it a comeback.

Matteo Berrettini, Marin Cilic and Kei Nishikori have been on the ATP Tour for years, their talents clear to all. But their efforts in 2024 showed another side to the legendary players, as their resilience paved the way to outstanding seasons and impressive rises in the PIF ATP Rankings – and nominations for the ATP Comeback Player of the Year Awards.

Nominees for Comeback Player of the Year are determined by a vote of the International Tennis Writers' Association (ITWA). The winner is chosen by the players from a shortlist.

The winners of the ATP Awards will be announced during Awards Week, starting on Monday, 9 December.

Matteo Berrettini
Berrettini closed the 2023 season after an ankle injury forced him to retire in the second round of the US Open. After joining forces with new coach Francisco Roig, the Italian was ready to return to the Australian Open, until he withdrew before his first match.

With his PIF ATP Ranking at a season low of No. 154, finally returned to the court in March at the ATP Challenger Tour event in Phoenix, where he reached the final. After dropping three sets to Andy Murray in Miami, Berrettini re-announced himself on the ATP Tour by winning the ATP 250 in Marrakech.

That was the first of three ATP 250s of the year, and the 28-year-old backed it up with wins in Gstaad and Kitzbuhel – all on clay – to bring his tour-level medal count. 10. He also reached the grass court finals in Stuttgart en route to a 32-12 season.

“If you can't do your job and what you love to do, it's always a struggle. So I'm very grateful for all the time I have to spend on the court, to play and give my best,” he told the press at the Rolex Shanghai Masters. “I know it's a plan. I did a good job this year to rebuild my quality, and I feel good.”

Berrettini closed his 2024 campaign by helping Italy retain its Davis Cup title, notching one crucial victory in the last two rounds.

Marin Cilic
Plagued by a knee injury for most of 2023, Cilic first attempted to return to the ATP Tour earlier this season. But after going four games without a win to start the year, he made the difficult decision to undergo knee surgery in May.

“My desire to play at a high level again has not disappeared; on the contrary, we are still as strong as before,” Cilic wrote on social media after going under the knife. “The journey over the past 15 months has been challenging, but I'm motivated to come back.”

After a successful rehab season, his renewed comeback effort began in late August. After finding his legs in two ATP Challenger Tour events, the Croatian stunned the tennis world by winning the ATP 250 in Hangzhou, defeating top 50 stars Brandon Nakashima and Zhang Zhizhen in the semifinals and finals, respectively.

The wild card entered the event at No. 777 in the PIF ATP Rankings and was the lowest-ranked champion in ATP Tour history.

“It's been a difficult time for me in the last few months. I lost my form and I didn't play much,” Cilic said before thanking the tournament for his bad card. After breaking out of the top 1,000 in the PIF ATP Rankings at the start of 2024, Cilic moved up more than 800 places to finish the season inside the Top 200.

Kei Nishikori
After nearly eight months on the sidelines, Nishikori played his first tournament of the 2024 season at the Miami ATP Masters 1000. Although he lost in the first round to Sebastian Ofner, he remained optimistic about his comeback.

“I have never lost that reason. It's always there. The specific reason I can't explain, but certain reasons are always there,” said Nishikori in a press conference after the match. “I'm looking forward to getting my tennis back.”

After triumphing at Roland Garros, competing at Wimbledon and representing Japan at the Paris Olympics, the 34-year-old set the record straight with a quarter-final run at the Montreal ATP Masters 1000, defeating Stefanos Tsitsipas along the way. He reached another quarter-final on home soil in Tokyo before ending the season with two deep runs on the ATP Challenger Tour, capping his year with a title in Helsinki.

Nishikori's excitement about returning to the professional game was evident throughout the season. In Montreal, after ripping a winner against #NextGenATP American Alex Michelsen in the first round, he almost laughed as his team looked on because of how well he closed out the match.

“I wonder sometimes too,” he joked. “It was different when I was young. I feel like I'm trying to enjoy it a little bit because I really appreciate where I'm at right now.”