Sam Querrey, John Isner and Jack Sock all agree on the comeback player of the year on the ATP Tour for 2024

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Following the conclusion of the 2024 season, the ATP is set to hand out several awards to players for their performances this year.

The 2024 ATP season was a classic from start to finish, as two new stars ushered in a new era at the top of men’s tennis.

Jannik Sinner won the Australian Open, and US Open, whilst Carlos Alcaraz defended his Wimbledon crown after he took home his first title at Roland Garros.

On the other hand, 24-time Major champion Novak Djokovic failed to win a Grand Slam for the first time since 2017.

However, whilst the elite in men’s tennis are used to getting all of the attention, the ATP awards often shine a light on some of the sport’s more underrated names.

In 2024, four different player based awards will be up for grabs.

Most improved player of the year

• Jack Draper
• Tomas Machac
• Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard
• Alejandro Tabilo

Newcomer of the year

• Jakub Mensik
• Juncheng Shang

Stefan Edberg sportsmanship award

• Carlos Alcaraz
• Grigor Dimitrov
• Casper Ruud
• Dominic Thiem

Comeback player of the year

• Matteo Berrettini
• Marin Cilic
• Kei Nishikori

The last of these awards, ‘Comeback player of the year’ caused quite the stir as four former American ATP stars had some pretty strong words to say about the nominees.

Sam Querrey, John Isner and Jack Sock all agree on who should win ‘Comeback player of the year’ award

Speaking on the Nothing Major podcast, the hosts were discussing the ‘Comeback player of the year’ nominees, as Steve Johnson gave his pick for the award.

“I think it’s going to be Kei Nishikori,” he said.

“I practised with him a bunch, the way he could just hit it clean every single time is a joke.

“I know he’s been hurt a lot but that’s my pick.”

Johnson’s choice wasn’t a popular one, as his co-hosts struggled to understand why Nishikori had even been nominated for the award.

“Of course, it’s [Matteo] Berrettini,” said Sam Querrey.

“[Marin] Cilic, and [Kei] Nishikori played like three tournaments, I don’t even know how they’re on this list.

“They’re great guys I’m hoping the best for them, but the answer is Matteo Berrettini.

“Cilic, I know he won an ATP event late [in the season], Nishikori, honestly off the top of my head I know he played the French Open and that’s the only thing I know he played.”

Fellow American Jack Sock was in agreement with Querrey as he tipped the Italian to win the award.

“Honestly, I could not agree more,” he said.

“I couldn’t even tell you what Nishikori played, I heard Cilic won a tournament, I couldn’t tell you what tournament it was.

“Berrettini won at least a title or two this year if I’m not mistaken, he also stepped up for Italy at the Davis Cup, and he was still balling out as of last week or a few weeks ago, yeah it’s Berrettini, hands down.”

John Isner made it three out of four in favor of Berrettini, as he questioned the choice of nominees.

“Yeah it’s Berrettini,” he said.

“I didn’t really love this list, typically I feel like there’s someone who comes back from a lot worse situation, completely fallen off the rankings, someone comes from 400th in the world, back to 30 or 40 in the world.

“Berrettini, I think it was 135 or 145 to 35, and he won three titles this year.

“Amazingly I’m pretty certain it’s not his best surface, all three came on clay, think a couple of those came in altitude in Gstaad and Kitzbuhel, so that’s a good surface for big hitters.

“He’s a good guy for the ATP to have back in the mix, when he was top ten in the world, making Slam finals, he was a good guy for the sport, so hopefully he can get his ranking up higher than 35, which I think we all believe he can.”

Who deserves the 2024 ATP ‘Comeback player of the year’ award?

Whilst Isner, Querrey, and Sock gave the nod to Berrettini, is it really as clear cut as they’re making it sound?

All three players made big strides in 2024, as they recovered from injuries, and it would be unfair not to give each of them a fair shout.

The Italian may well be the highest-ranked of the three nominees, having achieved the most success in 2024, but considering the award is for the player who had the best comeback this year, perhaps Cilic and Nishikori deserve a little bit more respect.

The pair, who competed in the 2014 US Open final jumped over 200 ranking spots this year, as they recovered from injury and poor form to work themselves back into contention.

It remains to be seen who will take home the award, but looking at the data more closely, Isner, Querrey, and Sock may well be in for a surprise when the winner is announced.