Will any WTA player win multiple majors in 2024?

As we make our way toward the 2024 season—which begins Friday, December 29 with the United Cup—our writers and editors tackle the most important questions of the new year.

Fourth question: Will any WTA player win multiple majors?

Scroll down past this article to read more Burning Questions on 2024.

Recent history says no. Since 2017, and the beginning of the decline of Serena Williams, only one woman has won two Slams in a season.

But the identity of that woman—Iga Swiatek in 2022—says that it could happen again this year.

Looking at the current rankings, only two names stand out as plausible multi-Slammers in 2024: No. 1 and 2, Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka. Sabalenka was the best player at the majors last season, while Swiatek regained her tour-dominating form at year’s end.

Each will face a different question as the Slam season starts.

For Swiatek, it’s an immediate one: Can she win in Melbourne? She made the semis there in 2021, but lost to Elena Rybakina in the fourth round last year. If she can keep her late-2023 momentum going Down Under and win her first title there, she could be on her way to another dominant season. For Sabalenka, the question is more general: Can she close late in majors? At three Slams in 2023, she squandered leads in either a semifinal or a final. When it comes to Wimbledon, Sabalenka has had the edge on Swiatek so far.

There is a wild card who isn’t near the top of the rankings at the moment: Naomi Osaka. She’s a four-time Slam champion, and should be highly motivated to prove herself again when she returns in January. Osaka may not have two majors in her in 2024, but she could make it tougher on Swiatek or Sabalenka—or someone else—to get two of their own.—Steve Tignor

It’s conceivable, perhaps even likely, that four different women will win majors again in 2024, so let’s game this out with an eye on last year’s results.

Sabalenka’s game seems custom-tailored for the Australian Open. She’s won 10 of her last 11 matches in Melbourne Park, where she is defending champion. Big, physical and armed with shutdown power, Sabalenka is a good bet to succeed in her defense unless the pressure gets to her.

Swiatek, champion at Roland Garros this year, is 28-2 there for her career, with three titles in five tries and has won her last 14 matches on the terre battue. Even this far in advance, she has to be accorded status of heavy favorite.

Marketa Vondrousova won exactly one match in four appearances at Wimbledon before her astonishing run to the title this year. Was it a fluke, or a coming of age for the gifted, injury-plagued 24-year-old from the Czech Republic? Six different women have won Wimbledon since Serena last ran the table in London in 2016. This title could be up for grabs.

Coco Gauff has been so good, so early, that it’s easy to forget that the US Open champion is still just 19. She’s also been a French Open finalist and, despite her relative inexperience, has an outstanding 44-16 Grand Slam record (73%). This is not the kind of player who is likely to experience a sophomore slump, or struggle with her newfound status.

While all these women—and others—could win one or more majors (we’re looking at you, Osaka, Elena Rybakina, Ons Jabeur, Jessica Pegula), the best bet to win multiple majors is Swaitek (at Roland Garros and the US Open) because of her all-around versatility—followed closely by, arguably, the finest athlete in the bunch, Gauff.—Peter Bodo

No. I’m taking my cues from history, and it hasn’t happened much in the last 15 years. If you take Serena out of the equation, only Iga Swiatek and Angelique Kerber won multiple majors in a single season, in 2022 and 2016, respectively. Then you have to go back to Justine Henin in 2007 and Amelie Mauresmo in 2006.

Of course, Serena was a big reason WTA players had a hard time winning more than one Slam a year—she was gobbling them up. But the WTA is in the business of minting new champs more than repeat champs these days. There has been a rookie Slam winner every year since 2014. I think that will continue, while Iga, Sabalenka and Coco continue to dominate, with challenges from Rybakina and Jabeur (yes, I still think she will show up on grass).

The big question mark as it relates to this storyline is whether Coco will unleash her full gifts this year and soar for a whole season, not just a summer. She might play freely and even better than last year. Brad Gilbert will continue to put her in the right frame of mind. Interestingly, she worked with Andy Roddick in the offseason a little bit—will her serve become a bigger weapon?

If anyone repeats, I think it will be Coco. She’s definitely not going the way of Emma Raducanu and other first-time Slam winners of late. She built up to her current level of ability and fame and has the team and family around her to keep it going. But I still think it’s more likely that we’ll see four different Slam winners again—a first-time winner in Melbourne, Iga at the French, Jabeur at Wimbledon, and Sabalenka at the US Open.—Megan Fernandez

Friday's question: Which is more likely: Coco Gauff wins another major, or another American wins her—or his—first?