Since the creation of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings in August 1973, 28 men’s singles players have owned the No. 1 spot. From Ilie Nastase in the very first edition to Carlos Alcaraz today, these unique superstars from across the world are forever linked, part of the elite fraternity to reign over the men’s game.
ATPTour.com is celebrating the coming 50th anniversary of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings with a five-part series looking at the legendary players, their epic battles, the inspiring comebacks, the jaw-dropping milestones and statistics and other narratives that showcase one of the most talked-about elements of our sport.
Leading tennis author and historian Richard Evans, who knows better than most all of the players to reach World No. 1, kicks us off with his personal reflections on the most notable among this elite group to have reached the pinnacle of tennis.
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Photo by Corinne Dubreuil/ATP Tour
Novak Djokovic
As the game gets more powerful, so the stress of playing pro tennis becomes more demanding. As a result, staying fit is now a major factor. With a body almost perfectly sculpted for tennis, Djokovic, despite an early health problem remedied by a strict diet, has managed to stay fitter than most. Along with his innate talent for striking a ball from any position on the court, this has enabled the 6-foot-2 Serb to start piling up statistics and pull away from his rivals. Well clear of Roger Federer now with 389 weeks at No. 1, the 94-time tour-level titlist seems set to become an undisputed GOAT.
Chance came his way at the age of five when Jelena Gencic, who had coached Monica Seles, spent a summer coaching at public courts right opposite the Djokovic family pizzeria. Gencic was inspired to work with him because he listened so intently to everything she said.
Born in Belgrade in 1987, Novak was ready, by the age of 20, to win two ATP Masters 1000 titles at Miami and in Canada and, in 2008, set off on the run that has so far brought him a record 23 Grand Slams by winning the first of 10 Australian Opens. He had to wait a bit before fulfilling the childhood dream of winning the first of what, so far, is seven Wimbledons in 2011.
With two children and a wife actively involved in his charities, family life absorbs much of Novak’s time away from tennis and, as he goes on winning, there is nothing to suggest he will not remain Serbia’s greatest global ambassador.
Weeks at No. 1: 389 … Consecutive weeks at No. 1: 122 … Year-end No. 1: 7 times
Photo by Peter Staples/ATP Tour
Roger Federer
It is not every sports star who ends their career sitting on a courtside bench, holding hands with Rafael Nadal, his greatest rival, both in tears, while 17,000 people at the Laver Cup in London cheered and cried. It was an emotional climax to an extraordinary career. Very few have accumulated as much love and admiration as this elegant Swiss, whom many fans will continue to view as ‘The Greatest’ no matter what the stats say.
It was the way he played the game, the smoothest mover and sweetest hitter of a ball you ever saw; the fiercest competitor, rarely showing the stress that broiled inside an almost disdainfully calm exterior; the sportsman always showing respect for his rivals.
Perfect is a silly word to use about any human being but Roger seems to have come closer than most. When his Slovak-born wife Mirka, a former player herself, produced two sets of twins — two girls and then two boys — someone in the locker room was heard to say, “Oh, Roger! You even do that perfectly!” It was near perfection on court that concerned his rivals most as he collected a total of 103 titles, 20 of them Slams and six at the Nitto ATP Finals.
After a stellar career of such free-flowing success, it’s sad that a back injury forced him into retirement before he was mentally prepared for it — even at the age of 41! Inspired by his South African mother, Federer will now spend even more time working on his pre-school education charities in countries like Malawi and Zimbabwe, recipients of a $1 million personal donation from Roger & Mirka when Covid struck. As he says: “It’s nice to be important, but it’s more important to be nice.”
Weeks at No. 1: 310 … Consecutive weeks at No. 1: 237 … Year-end No. 1: 5 times
Photo by Al Bello/Allsport
Pete Sampras
Being born with long arms is an advantage, but you need to know how to use them if you want to achieve what this Californian of Greek heritage achieved on a tennis court. The serve is considered one of the best to ever grace the game and Pete could reach anything at the net. The result? Seven Wimbledons!
Add a few more Grand Slams in New York (five) and Melbourne (two) — but never Paris — for a total of 14 and you are looking at a record that enabled him to finish the year as World No. 1 six times, second only to Djokovic. Sampras’ six came in succession from 1993-98, a record for consecutive years ended atop the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, and he navigated a gruelling late-year schedule in ’98 to finish the run in style. The 64-time tour-level champion was also the one-time ATP Masters 1000 title leader with 11 crowns.
Not a flamboyant performer, Pete rarely uttered a word on court — but then he didn’t say much off it, either, despite a warm, welcoming smile whenever he said hello. Although a man who kept to himself, Sampras was ready to step up for his country’s cause in Davis Cup, beating Andrei Chesnokov in five hard-fought sets in Moscow in 1995 and promptly collapsing with cramp. He needed to be carried off court.
Deeply affected by the death of his coach Tim Gullikson at the age of 44, Pete won his last nine Slams with Paul Annacone as his trusted coach.
In retirement, Pete did what most of us expected — stayed home with his actress wife, Bridgette Wilson, and two kids and played golf. Bridgette’s openly expressed desire to be a housewife rather than a movie star fit perfectly with Pete’s personality. Night life was not for him. Crushed one night at a Piccadilly disco in London, he struggled past me saying, “Can’t stand this. Gotta get out of here.” An open air kind of guy.
Weeks at No. 1: 286 … Consecutive weeks at No. 1: 102 … Year-end No. 1: 6 times
Photo by STF/AFP via Getty Images
Ivan Lendl
The piercing gaze is still on view courtside as this Czech-born American watches Andy Murray, wearing his coaching cap, but it was no less piercing when he used to look at himself in the bathroom mirror before training every morning and say, “Now body, how much punishment am I going to put you through today?” Was that a masochistic streak in Lendl’s nature? If so, it drove him to extraordinary heights: eight Grand Slam titles and a run of success at the US Open which may never be repeated — eight consecutive appearances in the final between 1982 and 1989.
Until John McEnroe lost his concentration and let a two-set lead slip at Roland Garros in 1984, enabling Ivan to secure a remarkable win, Ivan had found a Grand Slam title elusive as defeat followed defeat in finals. But once he broke the barrier, the 94-time tour-level titlist became one of the great winners of his era with a pounding backcourt game anchored to the athleticism he burnished with that daily training routine — hours on court, hours in the gym, eight miles on his bike and then a playful hour wrestling with the five German Shepherds, reared as killers by the Czech Border Guards — at his Connecticut home.
When Tony Roche, his Australian coach, came to visit, Ivan told him, “Just so you know, they understand the word for ‘kill’ in Czech!” In contrast, Ivan proved to be a doting father to his five daughters, three of whom he used to drive around golf tournaments in Florida, helping their progress in the professional game.
Beyond his eighth Grand Slam singles titles, Lendl also owned the year-end Masters Grand Prix — now the Nitto ATP Finals — during its time at New York City’s Madison Square Garden. From 1980-88, he reached nine straight finals at the prestigious event, winning five titles.
Weeks at No. 1: 270 … Consecutive weeks at No. 1: 157 … Year-end No. 1: 4 times
Photo by Allsport/UK
Jimmy Connors
Tennis is an individual sport and Jimmy Connors was an individual. He played Davis Cup for the United States but infrequently and reluctantly. Apart from a rollicking friendship with another maverick, Romania’s Ilie Nastase, Connors was a loner on the ATP Tour, intense, focused and driven.
That was clear when he was still only 18 and had just lost to Stan Smith in a tight match at the Los Angeles Tennis Club. I happened to be walking through and laughing about something completely separate with a friend and came close to where Jimmy, head in his hands, was sitting. Mistaking my mirth, he looked up and yelled, “It’s not funny, you know! I LOST! It’s not funny!” It was clear, right then, that we had an emerging champion.
Using a round, metal-framed racquet that required precision hitting, Connors went on to win eight Grand Slam titles and finish with a Grand Slam match record of 233-49, bettered only by Roger Federer (369-60) among retired players today. He also embarked on a stretch of 160 consecutive weeks as World No. 1 from 1974-77, shortly after the Pepperstone ATP Rankings were created in 1973. His 109 tour-level titles singles remain a men’s Open era record.
Connors’ grandmother, known as Two Mom, and his mother, Gloria Connors, lit his early path — two women from working class St. Louis who taught their boy that winning was just about everything. Later, the tennis professor Pancho Segura was allowed to teach him how to feed off bigger players’ power.
Bursting onto the major stages in 1972, Connors won three Slams and was denied the chance to play Roland Garros because of politics. His best performance came in beating arch-rival John McEnroe in the 1982 Wimbledon final, and his worst when Arthur Ashe soft-balled him to a shock defeat at Wimbledon in 1975. Such was the turmoil of the day that Connors, and his belligerent manager Bill Riordan, were actually in litigation against Ashe and the ATP Tour when he played Ashe in that Wimbledon final.
But above all, American crowds loved his feisty, battling style — the little guy against the world. New York adopted him and the US Open, which he won five times, was his home.
Weeks at No. 1: 268 … Consecutive weeks at No. 1: 160 … Year-end No. 1: 5 times
Photo by Corinne Dubreuil/ATP Tour
Rafael Nadal
‘King of Clay’ almost seems an inadequate title for a man who has dominated the clay-court game with such ruthless, relentless efficiency since he won Roland Garros for the first time in 2005 at the age of 19. Since then, winning in Paris has become routine, a total of 14 titles so far to go along with 12 crowns in Barcelona and 11 at Monte Carlo. Without foot and knee injuries, it could have been more.
How does he do it? The technical aspects of Nadal’s success are intriguing. Since his uncle Toni Nadal nurtured his hunger for the sport at the age of four, Rafa has combined a heavily muscled physique with a rare ability to impart heavy topspin on the ball. He can achieve an RPM of 3,200 rotations — far more than his rivals. The result is a ball that kicks and rises from a height and maintains its speed off the court when it lands. It was the shot that Roger Federer, who lost to Nadal 13 times, found most difficult to handle.
Triggered by injury, Rafa lost the ability to flick the wrist at the full extension of his arm in 2015, diminishing his effectiveness to such an extent that it became the only year between 2005 and 2019 that he did not win either a Grand Slam or ATP Masters 1000 title. Months of work back home at Manacor in Mallorca restored the weapon, and by 2017 he was able to win in Paris and New York while reaching the final in Melbourne. On of the all-time greats across all surfaces, Nadal has won a haul of 37 ATP Masters 1000 titles to go along with his 22 majors — all among 92 tour-level crowns.
It is an inbred willingness to work and improve that lies at the core of his success. After losing two finals to Federer, Nadal won Wimbledon in 2008 by upping the speed of his first serve. No Spaniard had managed to adapt to grass at that level since Manuel Santana in 1966.
The fierce on-court expressions melt into happy smiles when one meets Rafa in person. Charming and conscious of his powerful position as a hugely popular sporting icon, Rafa works generously for his foundation, which contributes to feeding the poor in Mallorca. During bad floods, Rafa opened the doors of his luxurious academy in Manacor to offer temporary shelter. In 2019, he married his childhood sweetheart, Maria, and they had a son last November.
Weeks at No. 1: 209 … Consecutive weeks at No. 1: 56 … Year-end No. 1: 5 times
Read Part 2 of the Notable No. 1s series.
View all 28 No. 1s in the 50-year history of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings.