The passing of the baton from legends to youth in the world of tennis has begun. The era of legendary players is giving way to a new wave of budding youngsters. Tennis stands on the verge of an exciting transformation, with the next generation of stars showing signs of taking centre stage and forging their paths to glory. For India, the year started on a sweet note, with veteran Rohan Bopanna reaching the summit where he stood apart from the rest of his competitors. In January, Bopanna became the oldest player to win a Grand Slam title after tasting success with his partner Matthew Ebden at the Rod Laver Arena by lifting their maiden Australian Open men’s doubles title as a team.

The Indian-Australian duo managed to oust the Italian pair of Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori with a straight-set win to etch their names in history in golden letters.

His success became a sight to behold, especially after he climbed to a career-best world No. 1 in the latest ATP Double Rankings following his special win.

The partnership saw its ups and downs and drew its final breath in November. Bopanna and Ebden announced the end of their successful two-year partnership.

The duo, who began playing together in January 2023, claimed significant titles, including the Australian Open Grand Slam title and ATP Masters 1000 trophies at Indian Wells (2023) and Miami Open (2024).

As fans bid adieu to the renowned pair, the world was not ready to embrace what was next to follow. Spain’s prized tennis star Rafael Nadal decided to have his last dance and bring the curtain down on his 23-year-old career as a professional tennis player.

With the final shot hit and the last racket laid to rest, the tennis world pauses to bid farewell to a legend, Rafael Nadal, who rewrote tennis history with his tenacious spirit, relentless dedication, and unmatched greatness, has played his final match.

One of the greatest to grace the sport, the “Spain’s Raging Bull” left an everlasting impression on his admirers and his rivals.

The King of Clay had his swansong in November during the Davis Cup and bowed out with 22 Grand Slam titles, including a record 14 French Open singles titles.

He also won the Australian Open twice in 2009 and 2022, Wimbledon in 2008 and 2010. He was also successful in the US Open, winning the title four times in 2010, 2013, 2017 and 2019. In Roland-Garros, the Spaniard defended his crown 10 times and recorded a staggering 97 per cent win percentage.

His fierce competitiveness, sportsmanship, and humility have made him a beloved figure, transcending the sport itself.

Even after his retirement as a champion, role model, and ambassador, Nadal’s legacy will continue to inspire and influence the world of tennis for years to come.

Before Nadal’s retirement, the two-time Olympic gold medal winner Andy Murray also called his time. In his decorated career, Murray lifted 46 singles titles.

Murray won his first Olympic gold medal in 2012 after defeating Roger Federer in the final. Four years later, he bagged his second at Rio by beating Argentina’s Juan Martin del Potro. The Briton tennis star’s three Grand Slam titles include two at Wimbledon (in 2013 and 2016), and one at the US Open (in 2012).In a year where memorable careers met their end, some icons lived their dreams.

Serbia’s Novak Djokovic turned his ultimate dream into reality by winning his first Olympic gold, completing a prestigious ‘Golden Slam’, by overcoming Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz in the men’s singles final in the Paris 2024 Olympics.

In a clash between the experienced tennis icon and the young Alcaraz, who brims with talent, Djokovic realised his ultimate dream by getting his hands on the first Olympic gold medal of his illustrious career.

While Alcaraz savoured defeat, he found some solace in defending his Wimbledon title before landing in Paris. Alcaraz won his second consecutive Wimbledon title after beating Djokovic 6-2, 6-2, 7-6 (7-4) at the centre court in London in July. The Spaniard became only the sixth man to win the French Open and Wimbledon back-to-back.

Along with Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner was another budding talent who made a case for being the next big thing in tennis. He kicked off the year perfectly after winning the Australian Open against Russia’s Daniil Medvedev in a thrilling five-set encounter. The Italian player defeated the final match by 3-6, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, and 6-3.

He topped his success in Australia by defeating Taylor Fritz of the United States in the final with a scoreline of 6-3, 6-4, and 7-5 to lift his first US Open title.

Towards the end of the year, Sinner made history in the ATP Finals by becoming the first Italian champion in the tournament’s 55-year history following his comprehensive victory over Taylor Fritz.

New Delhi:

The year 2024 was a mixed bag for Indian Railways as it saw progress on several projects but faced persistent challenges.

While on the one hand the Railway Ministry claimed to have crossed several milestones paving the way for a new era of modernization and progress, on the other, frequent accidents, inadequate manpower and frontline workers’ issues among others remained major causes of concern.

Among achievements were the introduction of 62 new Vande Bharat train services in different parts of the country, four Amrit Bharat Express services between Darbhanga-“Anand Vihar and Malda Town-SMVT Bengaluru and the first Namo Bharat Rapid Rail between Ahmedabad and Bhuj.

Besides commissioning of 3433 km of rail line across the rail network, inaugurating train operations between the Banihal-Khari-Sumber-Sangaldan section of Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link (USBRL), operationalisation of Kolkata Metro’s Esplanade-Howrah Maidan section which passes below the Hooghly river through the country’s first underwater transportation tunnel, earned accolades.

“Indian Railways achieved 6,450 km of complete track renewal, 8,550 turnout renewals, and raised speeds to 130 kmph over 2,000 km in 2024,” the ministry said in its ‘Year End Review 2024’.

Other highlights included initiating redevelopment work on 1198 railway stations out of 1337 selected ones, introducing the upgraded version of the automatic train protection system Kavach 4.0, recruiting five lakh employees in the last decade -” a number slightly higher than the previous decade – and dedicating to the nation the Marathwada Rail Coach Factory in Latur to supply Vande Bharat train sets.

“A project for equipping 10,000 locomotives has been finalised and 69 numbers of loco sheds have been prepared for equipping with Kavach,” the ministry said.

Some projects which made progress in the year 2024 were the Vande Bharat sleeper trainset’s first prototype which is all set to undergo field trials soon; the Rishikesh-Karnaprayag railway line which is proposed to be completed by December 2026; and the beginning of design and manufacturing of high-speed train sets that will have a design speed of 280 kmph.

Catering to the need of general passengers, the railway ministry declared its focus on increasing general compartment coaches in its fleet.

“The Ministry of Railways has introduced a system of publishing an annual calendar from 2024 for recruitment to various categories of Group ‘C’ posts. Benefits for the aspirants are more opportunities to those becoming eligible every year, certainty of exams; faster Recruitment process, Training and Appointments,” the Ministry said.

However, despite significant progress in various areas, over 70 reported cases of train derailments including couple of major ones such as – collision between a goods train with Agartala-Sealdah Kanchanjunga Express, Derailment of passenger train between Motiganj and Jhilahi stations in Uttar Pradesh, collision of passenger train with derailed Goods train at Barabamboo station in Jharkhand – involving death of several passengers, remained a bigger challenge to safe train running.

Inadequate manpower topped among concerning issues and the problem was so acute that Railway Board Chairman Satish Kumar wrote to the finance ministry and said that there is an urgent requirement for additional manpower to maintain the railways’ ever-increasing assets and safe train operations.

Kumar also urged the finance ministry to give the board the power to create non-gazetted posts in safety and essential categories.

Various railway associations such as All India Railway Track Maintainer Union, Indian Railways S&T Maintainers’ Union, All India Loco Running Staff Association, All India Train Controllers’ Association also raised the acute shortage of safety frontline staff.

Vivek Mishra, assistant general secretary of North Eastern Railway Men’s Congress, talking about Train Controllers’ issues said the Railway Board constituted a committee to look into the problems of train controllers but nothing has come out of it yet.

“Higher grade, Higher stress allowance with retirement benefits and night duty without any ceiling to all, high vacancy, requirement of additional posts, better promotion channel with 3 to 4 grade pay structure, etc are core issues of controllers,” Mishra said.

The slow progress of Kavach also came up in a report of the Standing Committee on Railways which, while presenting the First Report on ‘Demands for Grants (2024-25) in the Lok Sabha felt the need to “speed up Kavach-related works and ensure faster penetration of Kavach across Indian Railway Network”.

Similarly, the Committee on Estimates, in its report submitted to the Lok Sabha, after carrying out an in-depth analysis of the progress of ‘Amrit Bharat Station Scheme” (ABSS), made several recommendations such as need for a dedicated budget, a robust selection process and provisions for maintenance among others.

“While Indian Railways has made commendable progress in infrastructure development, challenges in safety, affordability, and service consistency need urgent attention to ensure it remains a lifeline for the nation. Without a balanced approach to modernization and inclusivity, the transformative vision for Railways risks alienating its core users,” Shailendra Kumar Goel, former DG of Indian Railways Institute of Signal Engineering & Telecommunications, said.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)