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The best-of-five format at the Grand Slams lends itself to matches full of twists and turns as the world's best compete on the game's biggest stages. The four majors in 2023 delivered with memorable matchups full of quality and drama from start to finish.

As we continue our look back at the 2023 season, ATPTour.com counts down the five greatest Grand Slam matches of the year.

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5) Wimbledon Open R1, Tsitsipas d. Thiem 3-6, 7-6(1), 6-2, 6-7(5), 7-6(10-8)
A roller-coaster match that was played over two days at Wimbledon climaxed with a dramatic final-set tie-break, the result on a knife's edge until the last ball of the three-hour, 55-minute contest.

Stefanos Tsitsipas trailed by a set overnight, with the match suspended midway through set two. But the Greek took control upon its resumption, only to see Dominic Thiem battle back. After Thiem saved a break point early in the fourth set, he won a tense tie-break and then — for a brief moment — appeared to have secured a break lead in the fifth. But an accurate overrule by the chair umpire stopped Thiem from taking a 4-3 lead, and Tsitsipas ultimately closed out a gritty victory with a forehand passing shot on his third match point.

Another ATP Tour season full of gripping storylines, magic moments and standout achievements is in the books… but which matches from 2023 will live longest in fans' memories?

The Top 4 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings — Novak Djokovic, Carlos Alcaraz, Daniil Medvedev and Jannik Sinner — were among those to play their part in some classic encounters this year. As part of of ATPTour.com’s annual season-in-review series, we count down the best matches on the ATP Tour this season. On Sunday, we will focus on the best Grand Slam matches of the year.

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5) Indian Wells R16, Medvedev d Zverev 6-7(5), 7-6(5), 7-5
Medvedev and Alexander Zverev reactivated their Lexus ATP Head2Head rivalry after 15 months away in style at the BNP Paribas Open in March. Medvedev clung on for a thrilling three, hour, 16-minute triumph in Indian Wells to extend his early-season winning streak to 17 matches, but that only told half the story of the fourth-round clash at the ATP Masters 1000.

Zverev was 8-7 for the year heading into the match and was still rebuilding confidence in his movement after missing the second half of 2022 with a serious right ankle injury. Yet the German came out strong against an opponent who was fresh from lifting consecutive trophies in Rotterdam, Doha and Dubai. It was only after Medvedev saved all 10 break points he faced in the second set, during which he also rolled heavily over his right ankle, that the then-World No. 6 was able to wear down the German and reach his first Indian Wells quarter-final.

What makes Novak Djokovic tick?

Few people are better equipped to answer that question than leading tennis journalist Jon Wertheim and the acclaimed CBS news broadcast programme known for its signature stopwatch, 60 MINUTES.

Wertheim, who in January 2020 profiled Rafael Nadal for the American show, spent three days on the ground in Belgrade in early November. Djokovic, who recently claimed ATP Year-End No. 1 presented by Pepperstone honours for a recording-extending eighth time at the age of 36, was first profiled on 60 MINUTES in 2011.

“That was 12 years and 20 majors ago,” Wertheim said. “We had already done the back story, so we approached this piece with the assumption that people already knew him. This time we really wanted to get into his mind. You’re not going to learn about his childhood like you did in the first one. We’re focused on the present and the future.”

Novak Djokovic is considered the greatest men’s tennis player of all time. 60 Minutes reports, Sunday. https://t.co/mEN4CWeXMW pic.twitter.com/YQCbV9VwNa

Nick Kyrgios will not compete in the 2024 Australian Open.

The 28-year-old was not on the entry list for the season's first major. He confirmed on Friday that he will not play his home Slam for the second consecutive year.

The only match Kyrgios played in 2023 came in Stuttgart, where he lost in straight sets to Wu Yibing.

"This is a very disappointing time for me, but I won't be able to compete at the 2024 Australian Open," Kyrgios said on a social media platform.

"Obviously, heartbreaking. I've had so many amazing memories there, and I just want to really get back to playing at the top of my game and doing it right, and I need a little more time."

ATPTour.com highlights five players who tasted success on the ATP Challenger Tour this season before shining at one of the four majors.

Christopher Eubanks
Coming into the season, the American was ranked outside the Top 100 of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings with just one major main-draw win. Closing 2022 by winning 11 of his final 14 Challenger-level matches was a sign of things to come for Eubanks. A quarter-final appearance at the ATP Masters 1000 event in Miami led Eubanks to his Top 100 debut.

During a South Korean Challenger swing across April and May, Eubanks reached two quarter-finals and a semi-final. The former Georgia Tech University standout started his grass season at the Surbiton Challenger, suffering a second-round exit. Then his life changed.

The 27-year-old collected his maiden ATP Tour level title in Mallorca and completed a dream run to the Wimbledon quarter-finals. En route to the last eight at the All England Club, Eubanks ousted 15th seed Cameron Norrie and fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas.

“My grass-court season got off to a bit of a rough start at the Surbiton Challenger. I began to question whether or not I could be good on the surface. I didn't think that I could,” Eubanks said in July. "But my coach, Ruan Roelofse, and I, we put in a lot of work on the grass to try and understand the footing and the shots and everything that I would need to have in order to be successful.”

There’s nothing quite like a good rebound, a good revival. Our Comeback Player of the Year nominees in the 2023 ATP Awards — Dominik Koepfer, Gael Monfils, Jan-Lennard Struff and Alexander Zverev — will attest to that. All four players found a way to overcome injury and battle back toward the top of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings in 2023.

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

Stay tuned: ATP Awards winners will be announced during Awards Week, starting Monday, 11 December.

[SWEEPSTAKES]

Dominik Koepfer

Kazakhstan’s Beibit Zhukayev first picked up a tennis racquet on a family vacation at age eight. A native of Aktau, population roughly 180,000, Zhukayev has defied odds to become a rising star on the ATP Challenger Tour.

“I never thought I’d become a professional player while practising in Aktau. It was for fun, we never had tennis coaches there or players,” Zhukayev told ATPTour.com. “I’m kind of like a superstar in that city. A lot of people tell me, ‘We never thought that someone would be that high in the rankings!’”

Zhukayev, who moved to Almaty in 2013, takes pride in being born and raised in Kazakhstan. “I’m real Kazakh,” he said. At No. 189 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, the 23-year-old hopes to see more tennis players emerge from his home country.

“Our tennis society and level is going up. I see a lot more children that are starting to play tennis and are more interested in the sport,” said Zhukayev, who is the second-highest ranked Kazakh, behind World No. 32 Alexander Bublik. “I believe in five, 10 years we will have more players competing.”

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After Holger Rune closed his 2022 ATP Tour season by beating Novak Djokovic in the Rolex Paris Masters final, the pair squared off again three times this year. Each match went the distance, all three-setters on some of the game's biggest stages — in Rome, Paris (again) and at the Nitto ATP Finals

ATPTour.com looks back at their memorable matchups for 2023.

Rome QFs, Rune d. Djokovic 6-2, 4-6, 6-2
Rune earned his second straight win against the Serbian and, for the moment, moved ahead 2-1 in their Lexus ATP Head2Head rivalry with a focussed effort in rainy Rome. Djokovic clinched the second set after the players returned from a rain delay, but Rune composed himself to wrestle away the match at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia.

Rune made Djokovic work to close out the middle set from 5-2, but Rune had little trouble in closing out the victory after building a 4-0 lead in the decider — his third-set surge aided by a vexing combination of power and touch, including several well-timed drop shots.

"It's really a big win for me,” said Rune, who converted on five of 10 break chances and hit 26 winners to Djokovic's 22. “Obviously I did it last year in Paris as well, but every match is a huge challenge for me when I play against Novak. He's one of the greatest that's ever played the game... I'm super proud of myself and I enjoyed every moment out there."

Andy Murray’s trio of titles on the ATP Challenger Tour stood out as a memorable moment in 2023.

The Scot was one of four players to win at the all-new Challenger 175 level this year with his triumph at the Open Aix Provence Credit Agricole, his first title of any kind since claiming the ATP 250 event in Antwerp in 2019.

“This last year, 18 months has been a bit of struggle with my game. But [my team] have been there supporting me and working with me to try and get better,” Murray said during the trophy presentation.

Murray’s road to the title was not easy. In the opening round, he defeated tour-veteran and former World No. 6 Gael Monfils. Murray maintained a high level all week, rallying past then World No. 17 Tommy Paul in the final.

17 years, 8 months.

The longest gap between Challenger titles in history!#ATPChallenger | @andy_murray pic.twitter.com/iAPqM9mnjn

Editor's note: This story was translated from ATPTour.com/es

Since he set the 2024 season as the possible stage for his comeback, Rafael Nadal has been erring on the side of caution. Facing one of the longest spells away from the game in his career, with a full year sidelined from competition due to an iliopsoas injury in his left leg, the Spaniard is now counting down the days until his return to professional tournament tennis at the ATP 250 in Brisbane, which starts on 29 December.

In the midst of a period of preparation that started in October, with work set to continue over the coming days in Kuwait alongside French #NextGenATP star Arthur Fils, the Spaniard was keen to share his thoughts before returning to the ATP Tour, with a sincere message for fans.

“I have thought many times that it did not make sense,” admitted the Spaniard, whose last match was in the second round of the Australian Open last January. “In the end, there have been many years, many hours of work in which I did not see the result. I still believe what I said in the last press conference, that I do not deserve to end my sports career in a press room. I would like to finish in a different way, and I have fought and kept the illusion for that to happen, with doubts, with bad moments, very bad or better moments.”

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The 22-time Grand Slam champion, who decided to end his 2023 season before Roland Garros, has had a completely different year to what he has been used to. Away from the big stages, away from the tension of competition, he surrounded himself with his own people in order to make the best decisions at all times.

The growing rivalry between Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner added three installments in 2023, with all three Lexus ATP Head2Head matchups coming in semi-finals. After they split two meetings in quick succession at Indian Wells and Miami, Sinner gained a 2-1 edge on the year and a 4-3 advantage overall by beating the Spaniard en route to the Beijing title.

ATPTour.com looks back at their three monumental matchups this season.

[SWEEPSTAKES]

Indian Wells SFs, Alcaraz d. Sinner 7-6(4), 6-3
In their first meeting since their five-set epic at the 2023 US Open, Alcaraz won a back-and-forth opening set at the BNP Paribas Open before pulling away early in the second.

The Spaniard started fast but was pegged back by Sinner, who won 11 points in a row and later brought up set point at 6-5 in the opener. But Alcaraz erased the opportunity with the help of a drop shot and powered through the tie-break before building a 3-0 lead in set two. He would see home the victory with relative ease from there.

The 2023 season was a transformational year on the ATP Tour. Here’s a look back at the record growth and progress delivered by ATP’s OneVision plan this season.

More than $50m in new money flowed to players in 2023, the largest increase ever. That included $22m growth in performance bonuses, $18.9m in prize money increases and a $9m increase in prize money awarded at ATP Challenger Tour level.

The number of players eligible for Performance Bonus increased from 12 to 150 this year. This includes a $20m 1000 Bonus, a brand new $1.3m 500 Bonus, and a new 50-50 profit sharing distribution of $12.2m.

Attendance at ATP Tour events topped 5 million in 2023, with 22 tournaments reporting record numbers.

Next season will see the introduction of Baseline, a game-changing compensation model that provides financial assurances to players: Guaranteed Base Earnings will allow them to plan their seasons and invest in their teams. Income Protection will support injured players during their recovery. Newcomer Investment will provide an up-front $200,000 payment for players who break into the Top 125 for the first time.

When Carlos Alcaraz broke onto the scene, Novak Djokovic was already one of the greatest players in history. As much as the Spaniard respects the Serbian, he has brought an element of fearlessness to his matches with the longest-reigning World No. 1 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings.

That has helped develop a captivating Lexus ATP Head2Head rivalry between the sport's two best players — a rivalry that blossomed in 2023 with four Lexus ATP Head2Head showdowns. ATPTour.com looks back at those memorable matches here.

[SWEEPSTAKES]

2023 Roland Garros SF, Djokovic d. Alcaraz 6-3, 5-7, 6-1, 6-1
There was a lot of anticipation ahead of a blockbuster semi-final between Djokovic and Alcaraz in Paris, especially after their first meeting, won by the Spaniard just more than a year earlier.

That match more than lived up to the hype for the first two sets, with the competitors one-upping each other with shotmaking and defending of the highest quality. Both of the opening sets finished in dramatic fashion, with break points coming and going for both men down the stretch — 15 combined across the first two sets.

ATP Tour and Grand Slam breakthroughs, career-high Pepperstone ATP Rankings, Davis Cup heroics, storybook Laver Cup debuts: Our four Most Improved Player of the Year nominees in the 2023 ATP Awards seemed to do it all this season.

Matteo Arnaldi, Christopher Eubanks, Ben Shelton and Jannik Sinner showed an improved level of performance throughout the year and made significant jumps in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings.

Nominees for Most Improved Player of the Year are determined by an International Tennis Writers' Association (ITWA) vote. The winner is selected by players from the shortlist.

Matteo Arnaldi, 22

As if Italy wasn’t already deep enough with the likes of Jannik Sinner, Matteo Berrettini, Lorenzo Musetti, Lorenzo Sonego, etc. You can now add Matteo Arnaldi to that potent mix, an aggressive, physical baseliner from the Italian Riviera who in 2023 leapt from No. 134 into the Top 50 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings.

Hamad Medjedovic’s breakthrough season all started on the ATP Challenger Tour.

After entering 2023 as World No. 255 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, the Serbian was the youngest player this year to win three ATP Challenger Tour titles and capped the season in the best way possible: winning the Next Gen ATP Finals presented by NEOM. Medjedovic, now ranked No. 113, is the sixth champion in the tournament’s history, a list that includes Top 10 stars Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner and Stefanos Tsitsipas.

“It means a lot. To know that all the great champions [won here], it gives you a lot of confidence and a boost for next season,” Medjedovic said. “I will be coming into next year with a lot of confidence.”

#TheNextGenATP star boasted a 23-12 record on the ATP Challenger Tour this season, with titles in Szekesfehervar, Mauthausen and Mallorca. In May, the-then 19-year-old Medjedovic joined elite company, becoming the third Serbian teenager to win a trio of Challenger titles, alongside Novak Djokovic and Janko Tipsarevic.

“The Challenger Tour is a high level, many great players, you need to be really consistent. You need to play good tennis every week,” Medjedovic told ATPTour.com in May. “There are a lot of tournaments and a lot of great matches. Consistency, hard work, discipline, and a good mentality are the keys.

One of the most interesting players in tennis is Jules Marie, currently No. 245 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings. At 32, the Frenchman is working hard to earn his place in qualifying at the four majors.

But Marie is also a YouTube star, whose channel has more than 100,000 subscribers. Fans around the world follow his journey as a professional tennis player.

ATPTour.com spoke to Marie to learn more about his tennis journey, YouTube channel and more.

1) Jules’ Start In Tennis Might Surprise You
Some tennis players are whisked into the tennis world from a young age because of family members loving the sport. That was not the case for Marie, who began tennis aged eight because a friend at school was playing it.

None of Marie’s family members had been involved in the sport. He did not learn tennis at a big club, either.

After a one-year hiatus in their long-running Lexus ATP Head2Head rivalry, Daniil Medvedev and Alexander Zverev made up for lost time with six Lexus ATP Head2Head meetings in 2023. Four of those matchups came at the ATP Masters 1000 level and the sixth came at the Nitto ATP Finals, with Medvedev posting a 5-1 record to improve to 11-7 in the overall series.

At the end of a resurgent year for both stars, ATPTour.com looks back on their six meetings from 2023.

Indian Wells R16, Medvedev d. Zverev 6-7(5), 7-6(5), 7-5
In an eventful matchup at the BNP Paribas Open, Medvedev survived a stern challenge from Zverev and a twisted ankle suffered during a fall in the second set. He hit 40 winners in a gritty victory that extended his winning streak to 17 matches.

On the brink of defeat and with a tape job on his right ankle, Medvedev fought off 10 break points in the second set, including two escapes from 0/40. Early in the tie-break, he produced one of the shots of the season with a brilliant defensive smash as he began to take control of the match. While he missed out on a match point on serve at 5-4 in the final set, Medvedev managed to close out the victory by serving out the win at the second time of asking after a late break.

"When I twisted [my ankle], I thought I was going to stand up just fine," Medvedev said of his dramatic fall. "But then the pain started growing very fast, so I was like 'That is not a good sign.' I felt like I didn't break it but I felt that one of the ligaments was a little injured, so I thought I wasn't going to be able to play."

ATP is proud to announce the extension of its longstanding partnership with Lacoste. The iconic fashion-sport brand will continue as the Official Outfitter of the ATP Tour from 2024-2026.

Lacoste will outfit ATP staff and officials, including chair umpires, elevating style in travel across the Tour. The fashion-sport pioneer will also be showcased to a global tennis audience through the ATP Tour’s fast-growing social and digital channels.

The partnership celebrates a unique shared legacy in tennis. In 2022, ATP celebrated its 50th Anniversary, while 2023 marked Lacoste’s 90th birthday. The partnership also builds on ATP and Lacoste’s aim of bringing together diverse communities through a love of tennis and fashion.

Lacoste's partnerships in tennis span some of the most prestigious events on the calendar, including ATP Masters 1000 tournaments in Madrid and Miami, and Roland-Garros. The brand’s roster of ambassadors includes tennis stars Daniil Medvedev, Grigor Dimitrov, Ugo Humbert, Venus Williams, Fiona Ferro and World No.1 Novak Djokovic.

Lacoste has also teamed with its ambassadors to provide free access to sport for enthusiasts from underprivileged communities. In the past three years, the ‘We Are Etendard’ project has rebuilt more than 20 courts across tennis, basketball, football and handball, helping inspire young people through sport.

Just three days after announcing he will make his return in Week 1 of the 2024 season at the Brisbane International presented by Evie, Rafael Nadal further elaborated on his comeback Monday on social media. In a philosophical message spoken in Spanish, the former World No. 1 brought the fans closer to his current mentality.

“I have been afraid to announce things because in the end it’s [been] a year without competing and it’s a hip operation,” Nadal said. “But what worries me most is not the hip, it’s everything else. I think I’m ready and I trust and hope that things go well and that it gives me the opportunity to enjoy myself on the court.”

De mi anuncio del viernes… algunas explicaciones esta semana. Aquí la primera:
?? Tengo y he tenido miedo de anunciar las cosas. Me ha causado miedo querer anunciar algo sin estar seguro al 100%…
?? Creo que estoy preparado y confío y espero que las cosas vayan bien y que me… pic.twitter.com/vHnDSQzBCx

The 37-year-old explained that because he has not competed since the 2023 Australian Open, he hopes to quickly have the feelings associated with competition.

“I hope, first of all, to feel again those nerves, that illusion, those fears, those doubts. I expect from myself not to expect anything. This is the truth,” Nadal said. “To have the ability not to demand myself what I have demanded myself throughout my career. I believe I’m in a different moment, in a different situation and in an unexplored terrain."

Portugal’s Nuno Borges closed his 2023 season in the best possible way: winning an ATP Challenger Tour title on home soil.

The 26-year-old dropped just one set all week en route to winning the Maia Open, where he downed Frenchman Benoit Paire 6-1, 6-4 in the final. Borges also won Challenger titles in Monterrey, Mexico and Phoenix, Arizona, where he lifted the first title of the all-new 175 category.

"It’s definitely the best season of my career,” Borges said. “Last year I had the chance to play some ATP tournaments and the Grand Slams, but in 2023 I was a regular on the tour and got to live amazing experiences like facing [Carlos] Alcaraz in Barcelona or [Stefanos] Tsitsipas in Rome, the kind of matches that make me feel what it's like to play at the highest level. And in 2024 I'll be looking for more."

In addition to the great success Borges already tasted this year, his clay-court triumph at home is a memory that the World No. 66 will not soon forget.

“Right after winning the match point I started thinking about all the moments I lived here. I spent countless hours [here],” Borges said. “Watching the Davis Cup, being a ball kid in a Davis Cup tie. To become part of the group of champions here in Maia is something I'll always cherish, especially because it happened in front of my family and my childhood friends. It's definitely something very special for me and I'll never forget it."