World number 1 ranked male tennis players

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World number 1 ranked male tennis players is a year-by-year listing of the male tennis players who were, at the end of each calendar year generally considered to be the best overall for that entire calendar year. The runner-up for each year is also listed as is a summary of the reasons why both were ranked as such, which includes the performance of the players in major tennis tournaments of the particular year, and the tennis ranking authorities who provided the annual rankings on which the listed rankings are based.

History of rankings

Before 1913

For the period between the birth of lawn tennis to 1913 no contemporary worldwide rankings exist. Some national tennis federations such as the USLTA in the United States did create national rankings.

Few sources are available but Richard Yallop in Royal South Yarra Lawn Tennis Club 100 Years in Australian Tennis stated that Norman Brookes was the champion of the world in 1907 and Len and Shelley Richardson in Anthony Wilding A Sporting Life cite the opinions of A. E. Crawley (an early-twentieth-century British journalist) and Anthony Wilding (the New Zealand tennis player). Other years dating back to 1913 also present difficulties and ambiguities. There are sometimes contradictions between sources regarding the same information.

Between 1913 and 1973: opinion-based worldwide rankings and professional tournament series point rankings

Before the open era of tennis arrived in 1968, rankings for amateur players were generally compiled either for a full year of play or in September following the U.S. Championships. Professional players were ranked by journalists, promoters, and players' associations either at the end of the year or in the summer when the world pro tours finalized. There were also point ranking systems attached to professional tournament series in 1946, 1959, 1960, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968. Even for amateurs, however, there was no single official overall ranking that encompassed the entire world. Instead, national rankings were done by the national tennis association of each country, and world rankings were the preserve of tennis journalists. It was only with the introduction of computerized rankings in the open era that rankings were issued more frequently than once yearly, although interim rankings were reported in those years which had point series. Even the end-of-year amateur rankings issued by official organizations such as the United States Lawn Tennis Association were based on judgments and not on mathematical formulas assigning points for wins or losses.

In 1938, for instance, when Don Budge won the amateur Grand Slam, it was easy to conclude that Budge was not only the U.S. No. 1 but also the world No. 1 amateur player. It was far more difficult, however, to decide who was the best overall player, amateur or professional, for that year because both Ellsworth Vines and Fred Perry, now professionals, were still at the top of their form.

In 1946 Bobby Riggs, a professional, had established himself as the best player in the world. In 1947, he was still the best professional player but Jack Kramer as an amateur player won Wimbledon and the U.S. Championships. Kramer, having turned professional in November after the amateur Pacific Coast Championships, met Riggs three times in late December on fast indoor courts and Riggs won twice, and Kramer trailed Riggs 6–8 before catching up at 14–14. But at the end of their long series of matches in May 1948, Kramer had led Riggs decisively in head-to-head meetings.

Kramer's 1948 world pro championship tour victory would be the final occasion in the pre-open era that a first year professional player would win a world championship pro tour. However, some new professionals had solid achievements in their first year on the pro circuit, Gonzales winning the U.S. Pro Indoor over Kramer in 1950, Sedgman achieving a world No. 1 pro ranking in 1953, Trabert winning at Roland Garros in 1956, Hoad winning the Australian subtour in 1958, Rosewall in 1957 and Anderson in 1959 winning at Wembley.

Even here, however, some years present difficulties. Kramer was perhaps the world's best player in 1950 and 1951 when he defeated first Pancho Gonzales and then Pancho Segura in head-to-head tours, however he was beaten in tournaments by those same players. In 1952, there was no long, headline tour. Instead, there were short tours between different players and several professional tournaments, with the result that none of the professionals played extensively. The U. S. Professional Lawn Tennis Association published an end-of-the-year list in which Segura was ranked the best player in the world, with Gonzales second.^[1] During the year, however, Gonzales had defeated Segura 4 matches to 1. Segura had also won a number of important tournaments, including the Cleveland International Pro Championships in which he had defeated Gonzales in the final.

The following year, 1953, Kramer narrowly defeated the top amateur-turned-professional, Frank Sedgman, in their tour during the first half of the year and so reestablished himself as world No. 1. Because of injuries, he did not play the second half of the year. As a result, Kramer was now in semi-retirement. Sedgman won the major tournaments later in the year and was ranked world No. 1 professional player for the full season by Tennis de France, perhaps the only pro tennis ranking for the complete season.

In 1954, there were a number of round-robins tournaments as well as shorter tours, from which it is clear that Gonzales had now established himself as the best professional player in the world, the first year in a run of seven consecutive years as the world No. 1 or shared No. 1. But, given the spotty and often contradictory record-keeping of the professional results since 1926, it is frequently difficult to make a clear, objective judgment as to who was the best player in any number of years. In some years, there are no contemporary or retrospective rankings for professional players.

Professional tennis in Europe before 1926

, tutor of the Tennis Club de Paris and former teacher of Joshua Pim who won Wimbledon twice, was reportedly as good a player as the leading amateurs.^[2] was the best English teaching professional during the early 20th century. In 1913, Haggett settled in the United States, invited by the West Side Tennis Club of Forest Hills, New York and became the coach of the American Davis Cup team. In practice matches, he beat the leading amateurs Anthony Wilding, Wimbledon winner and Maurice McLoughlin, Wimbledon All Comer's winner.^[3]

In the 1920s, Karel Koželuh, Albert Burke (son of Thomas Burke), and Roman Najuch were probably the most notable, as well as the best, of these players. The Bristol Cup, held at Beaulieu or at Cannes on the French Riviera and won seven consecutive times by Koželuh, was "the world's only significant pro tennis tournament."^[4] Koželuh went on to become one of the best of the touring professionals in the 1930s. He and Burke, however, were not listed among the top players before 1928, as this was the first year when a ranking was published for all the top players, amateur and professional. All top 10 rankings for the years before 1928 were for amateurs only.

Major professional tournaments before 1968

Three major tournaments held a certain tradition and usually had the best of the leading players. The most prestigious of the three was generally the London Indoor Professional Championship. Played in most years between 1934 and 1990 at the Wembley Arena in the United Kingdom, the tournament was authorised by the Lawn Tennis Association from the 1950s onwards. The oldest of the three was the United States Professional Championship, played between 1927 and 1999 (except 1944 and 1996). In 1951, the USPLTA U.S. Pro was held at Forest Hills, however there was also in 1951 the PPAT-approved U.S. Pro (under the billed name International Pro) held at Cleveland. Between 1952–53 and 1955–62 the U.S. Pro was played in Cleveland (under the billed name International or World Professional Championships). The USPLTA U. S. Pro was held again at the L.A. Tennis Club in 1954 under Kramer's management, however the Cleveland version of the U.S. Pro was also held in 1954 under the billed name World Professional Championships. The third major tournament was the French Professional Championship, played at Roland Garros in the years 1930–1932, 1934–1939, 1956, 1958–62 and 1968 and Stade Coubertin from 1963 to 1967. The British and American championships continued into the open era but devolved to the status of minor tournaments.

These three tournaments (Wembley Pro, French Pro and U.S. Pro) through 1967 are often referred to retrospectively as the major pro events by tennis historians.^[5] However, in some years other tournaments had stronger fields and larger money prizes. The 1957 Forest Hills Tournament of Champions was broadcast live in its entirety on the CBS national television network in the U.S.,^[6][7] and the 1959 Forest Hills Tournament of Champions offered the largest winners' cheques of the season. The Forest Hills professional tournament in 1966 boasted the largest prize money of the season, and was filmed to be broadcast one match at a time as a weekly series on independent channels. The Wimbledon Pro in 1967 was broadcast complete in colour on BBC television in Britain and awarded the largest prize money of any pro tournament up to that time.

Before 1973, there were only a few rankings based on the points players obtained for achieving a certain level of performance in particular tournaments, but there were journalists or officials (on their personal behalf) or promoters or players themselves who listed their own subjective annual rankings. In 1946, 1959, 1960 and 1964-1968 there were point ranking systems and seeding lists applied to professional series of tournaments involving all of the best pros. In 1946, 1959 and 1960 there were also World Professional Championship tours with a small number of pros, which did not produce point rankings. The winner of the 1946, 1959 and 1960 World Professional Championship Tours were described as "world champion" in many reports, as distinct from the point series "world No. 1".^[8][9] In 1961 and 1963, the ITPTA World Championship Tour produced an official ranking order for the contract professionals. In some years, however, only a small number of professional promoters, players or journalists released rankings at the end of the tennis year. For these years, retrospective rankings done by tennis historians or sports statisticians many years after the tennis year ended (i.e. in the 2000s for a year in the 1950s) are considered by the editors in their determination of which players should be ranked No. 1 and No. 2.

From 1973 onward: merit-based ATP rankings

In August 1973 the ATP introduced its own rankings. These were published 11 times that year and with increasing frequency the following years until 1979 when from that year on they were published weekly.^[10] In the 1970s and 1980s they did not take into account certain events, such as the Davis Cup, the WCT Finals and the Masters (currently named the ATP Finals. Since 1990 the ATP does award points for ATP Finals.^[11] As well, the ATP point rankings did not award the Grand Slam tournaments which most often attracted the most top-ranked players in the world (Wimbledon and the U.S. Open) and, therefore, were the most valuable to win in the minds of both players and tennis journalists, a number of points commensurate with their importance. Some events^[which?] which did not attract many or even a couple top-ranked players but offered high prize money were worth a higher number of points than their perceived importance.

Disputed rankings

Other rankings proposed by tennis experts or by the players themselves could be more accurate because they included these events and adjusted the rankings to reflect the actual importance of particular tournaments. From 1973 to 2006 this list sometimes differs from the ATP list because it shows journalists (or even players) rankings released at the time and not the computer-based point rankings. In particular, Connors has been ranked No. 1, at the end of the year, from 1974 to 1978 by the ATP but the majority disagreed with the computer rankings: in 1975 leading journalists including John Barrett, Bud Collins, Barry Lorge and Judith Elian ranked Arthur Ashe as the No. 1 in the world while his ATP ranking was only 4th; in 1977, no one, except the ATP ranking, considered that Connors was the best player in the world, and everyone thought that Borg and Vilas were the top two tennis players; and in 1978 everyone and, in particular, the ITF recognized that Borg was the World Champion. In 1982 and 1989, respectively, Connors and Becker, both winners of Wimbledon and the US Open, were considered as World Champions even though the ATP ranked McEnroe and Lendl as No. 1 in those years. Since the mid-'90s the ATP rankings have generally been accepted by many as the official rankings (but in 1999 many considered Sampras as the second best player in the world while the ATP ranked Kafelnikov 2nd). Since 1978 the ITF (represented at the beginning by Sedgman, Hoad and Trabert) has designated its World Champion.^[a][12]

List of No. 1 and No. 2 ranked players

1877–1912

Early tennis era rankings are more variable in nature due to limited sourcing. Contemporary worldwide rankings do not exist for this period.

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A. = Amateur.
P. = Professional (all players in the Open Era are professional unless otherwise indicated).

Year	Consensus world No. 1	Consensus No. 2	Source of ranking and tournament results summary
1877	Spencer Gore (GBR) A.		Methven Brownlee: Lawn Tennis[page needed] Gore is the Wimbledon champion
1878	Frank Hadow (GBR) A.		Methven Brownlee: Lawn Tennis[page needed] Hadow is the Wimbledon champion
1879	John Hartley (GBR) A.		Methven Brownlee: Lawn Tennis[page needed] Hartley is the Wimbledon champion
1880	John Hartley (GBR) A.	William Renshaw (GBR) A.	Methven Brownlee: Lawn Tennis[page needed] Hartley wins the only match he plays, against Lawford in the Wimbledon final.
1881	William Renshaw (GBR) A.	Herbert Lawford (GBR) A.	International Tennis Hall of Fame; R. Osborn (he ranked the Top7 British players), as reported by Tingay in his encyclopedia William Renshaw is the Irish and Wimbledon champion.
1882	William Renshaw (GBR) A.	Ernest Renshaw (GBR) A.	Methven Brownlee: Lawn Tennis[page needed] The "Field" Lawn Tennis Calendar William Renshaw is the Irish and Wimbledon champion, his brother Ernest is the challenger both times. The "Field" Lawn Tennis Calendar classifies the leading players into three categories. Only William Renshaw can be found in the first category.
1883	William Renshaw (GBR) A.	Ernest Renshaw (GBR) A.	Methven Brownlee: Lawn Tennis[page needed] The Pastime classification of British players: 1. W. Renshaw 2. E. Renshaw William Renshaw has won the only singles match he played at Wimbledon against Irish champion Ernest Renshaw.
1884	William Renshaw (GBR) A.	Herbert Lawford (GBR) A.	The Pastime classification of British players: 1. W. Renshaw 2. Lawford William Renshaw has won the only singles match he played at Wimbledon against Irish champion Lawford.
1885	William Renshaw (GBR) A.	Herbert Lawford (GBR) A.	The Pastime classification of British players: 1. W. Renshaw 2. Lawford William Renshaw has won the only singles match he played at Wimbledon against Irish champion Lawford.
1886	William Renshaw (GBR) A.	Herbert Lawford (GBR) A.	The Pastime classification of British players: 1. W. Renshaw 2. Lawford William Renshaw has won the only singles match he played at Wimbledon against Irish champion Lawford.
1887	Ernest Renshaw (GBR) A.  Herbert Lawford (GBR) A.		International Tennis Hall of Fame; The Pastime classification of British players: 1–2. Lawford, E.Renshaw Lawford beat Ernest Renshaw at Wimbledon and lost to him at the Irish. Neither of them has shown as good a form as William Renshaw last year who is absent because of injury.
1888	Ernest Renshaw (GBR) A.	Willoughby Hamilton (GBR) A.	The Pastime classification of British players: 1. E. Renshaw 2–4. W. Renshaw, Hamilton, Lewis Lawn Tennis in America (Valentine Hall) 1. E. Renshaw 2–3. Hamilton, Lewis Ernest Renshaw is the Irish and Wimbledon champion. Hamilton is the Irish challenger, and the Northern England champion.
1889	William Renshaw (GBR) A.	Willoughby Hamilton (GBR) A.	The Pastime classification of British players: 1–2. W. Renshaw, Hamilton Hamilton has beaten William Renshaw (once again Wimbledon champion) at the Irish, won the Northern England title as well, but lost at the Wimbledon semis to Harry Barlow. Renshaw won the Wimbledon title.
1890	Willoughby Hamilton (GBR) A.	Joshua Pim (GBR) A.	The Pastime classification of British players: 1–2. Hamilton, Pim Hamilton wins Wimbledon, but loses to Pim in Liverpool and Lewis in Dublin (although he is the Irish champ, he had severe defeats by Pim and G. Chaytor).
1891	Wilfred Baddeley (GBR) A.	Ernest Lewis (GBR) A.	International Tennis Hall of Fame; The Pastime classification of British players: 1–3. W. Baddeley, Lewis, Pim Lewis is the Irish, Baddeley the Wimbledon champion, but they have not met. Both of them have beaten Pim, although Pim also beat Baddeley at the Northern Champ.
1892	Ernest Renshaw (GBR) A.	Wilfred Baddeley (GBR) A.	The Pastime classification of British players: 1–2. E. Renshaw, W. Baddeley Ernest Renshaw is the Irish, Baddeley the Wimbledon champion (in the absence of Renshaw), but they have not met.
1893	Joshua Pim (GBR) A.	Wilfred Baddeley (GBR) A.	The Pastime classification of British players: 1. Pim 2. W. Baddeley Pim wins Wimbledon, the Irish and Northern England titles as well (no one has won all these three big titles in the same year yet). He twice defeats Baddeley.
1894	Joshua Pim (GBR) A.	Wilfred Baddeley (GBR) A.	The Pastime classification of British players: 1. Pim 2. W. Baddeley Pim defends his Wimbledon and Irish titles. Wilfred Baddeley is the Wimbledon challenger and wins the Northern England title beating Pim and also beats him at an international match.
1895	Wilfred Baddeley (GBR) A.	Joshua Pim (GBR) A.	The Pastime classification of British players: 1–2. W. Baddeley, Pim Pim is the Irish champion demolishing Wilberforce Eaves, but is absent from Wimbledon that Baddeley wins from a weaker field narrowly beating Eaves.
1896	Wilfred Baddeley (GBR) A.	Harold Mahony (GBR) A.	The Lawn Tennis classification of British players (in alphabetical order, foreign and covered court tournaments were not taken into account): 1. W. Baddeley scratch 2. Mahony Baddeley has beaten Mahony both at the Irish and Northern England Championships, but lost to him at Wimbledon. John Pius Boland won the Olympic gold.
1897	Reginald Doherty (GBR) A.  Wilberforce Eaves (GBR) A.  Robert Wrenn (USA) A.	all 3 ranked equally	International Tennis Hall of Fame; The Lawn Tennis classification of British players (in alphabetical order, foreign and covered court tournaments were not taken into account): 1. W. Baddeley, R. Doherty, Eaves scratch US rankings: 1. Wrenn 2. Larned 3. Eaves Wimbledon champion Doherty was beaten by Irish champion Eaves in Dublin, by Baddeley at the Northern England Championships and by Mahony at the international match, however he has beaten all of them at Wimbledon. Wrenn beats Eaves at the US but loses to Larned in Boston.
1898	Reginald Doherty (GBR) A.	Laurence Doherty (GBR) A.	International Tennis Hall of Fame; The Lawn Tennis classification of British players (in alphabetical order, foreign and covered court tournaments were not taken into account): 1–5. G. Chaytor, L. Doherty, R. Doherty, W. Eaves, S. Smith Wimbledon champion Reginald Doherty loses to Irish Mahony in Dublin. Laurie Doherty defeats Mahony at Wimbledon, but loses the challenge round to his brother.
1899	Reginald Doherty (GBR) A.	Sydney Smith (GBR) A.  Malcolm Whitman (USA) A.	The Lawn Tennis classification of British players (in alphabetical order, foreign and covered court tournaments were not taken into account): 1. R. Doherty scratch 2. S. Smith US rankings: 1. Whitman Reginald Doherty wins both the Wimbledon and the Irish titles and has an unbeaten season. Charles A. Voigt from Boston classified the national champions (Golf and Lawn Tennis, April 16, 1900, page 114–115) in this order: R. Doherty, Smith, Whitman[citation needed]. Whitman wins all the important US tournaments, and according to Potter (in his Kings of the Court book) he played magnificently.
1900	Reginald Doherty (GBR) A.  Malcolm Whitman (USA) A.		International Tennis Hall of Fame; British author Jackson ranked the British players in the American Outing as follows: 1. R. Doherty 2. Smith 3. Gore US rankings: 1. Whitman Doherty wins both the Wimbledon and the Irish titles. Whitman wins all the important US titles and demolishes Gore in Davis Cup. Laurence Doherty won the Olympic gold.
1901	Arthur Gore (GBR) A.  William Larned (USA) A.	both ranked equally	International Tennis Hall of Fame Doherty (defending Irish champion) is in poor health and loses his Wimbledon title to Gore. Larned is the best American in the absence of Whitman. US rankings 1. Larned
1902	Reginald Doherty (GBR) A.  Laurence Doherty (GBR) A.  William Larned (USA) A.	all 3 ranked equally	The Lawn Tennis and Croquet classification of British players (some continental tournaments were also taken into account): 1. L. Doherty, R. Doherty scratch US rankings: 1. Larned Irish and Wimbledon champion Laurence Doherty was not selected for Davis Cup. U.S. champion Larned was 1–1 with Reginald, who did not play singles anymore in England.
1903	Laurence Doherty (GBR) A.	William Larned (USA) A.	Anthony Wilding; DeWitt C. Regrave, Jr. in "World Tennis" November 1955 (Volume 3 Number 6); Laurence Doherty won Wimbledon, the U.S. Championships and Davis Cup. Larned nearly beats Doherty at Davis Cup. US rankings 1. Larned
1904	Laurence Doherty (GBR) A.	Reginald Doherty (GBR) A.	The Lawn Tennis and Badminton classification of British players (by the handicapper Simond): 1. L. Doherty, 2. R. Doherty scratch Wimbledon champion Laurence Doherty has only one loss at the end of the season.
1905	Laurence Doherty (GBR) A.	Beals Wright (USA) A.	The Lawn Tennis and Badminton classification of British players and the American and Australian visitors: 1. L. Doherty 2. Wright 3. Brookes 4. Smith US rankings: 1. Wright Doherty is the Wimbledon champion. US champion Wright twice beats Wimbledon challenger Brookes, but loses to Gore at Wimbledon.
1906	Laurence Doherty (GBR) A. [citation needed]	Norman Brooks (AUS) A. [citation needed]	Doherty was the Wimbledon champion. Brookes won the Victorian Championships against Wilding but did not play outside Australia.
1907	Norman Brooks (AUS) A.	William Larned (USA) A.	International Tennis Hall of Fame; Richard Yallop Brookes was undefeated in Great Britain and won there in particular Wimbledon and the Davis Cup preliminary and challenge rounds; DeWitt C. Regrave, Jr. in "World Tennis" November 1955 (Volume 3 Number 6). Larned is the U.S. and Boston champion in weak fields (without Clothier or Wright). US rankings 1. Larned
1908	William Larned (USA) A.	Arthur Gore (GBR) A. [citation needed]	Larned is the U.S. and Boston and wins his Davis Cup matches. In his book Anthony Wilding judged Brookes the best. Brookes has lost to US No 2 Wright in Davis Cup and could only narrowly beat Alexander. Gore is the Wimbledon champion in a weak field. Arthur Gore won the Olympic Indoor tennis gold medal, Josiah Ritchie won the Olympic Outdoor tennis gold medal. US rankings 1. Larned
1909	William Larned (USA) A.	Anthony Wilding (NZL) A. [citation needed]	Larned is the U.S. and Boston and wins his Davis Cup matches. Wilding has defeated Brookes at the Victorian Championships. US rankings 1. Larned
1910	William Larned (USA) A.	Anthony Wilding (NZL) A.	Larned is once again U.S. and Boston champion (he was named the best player of the world next April by British journalist and author, A. Crawley)[citation needed]. Wilding wins Wimbledon but Wright nearly beats him in the all-comers’ final. US rankings 1. Larned
1911	Norman Brooks (AUS) A.  Anthony Wilding (NZL) A.		International Tennis Hall of Fame; Anthony Wilding Wilding has barely defended his Wimbledon title. Brookes has won in Davis Cup and won the Australasian Championships (also beating Heath). Larned (U.S. and Boston champ), suffering from rheumatism, lost to Heath. In his book Anthony Wilding judged Brookes the best.
1912	Anthony Wilding (NZL) A.  Norman Brooks (AUS) A.  André Gobert (FRA) A.		A.E. Crawley listed the world's ten best singles players in three classes: in the first Brookes and André Gobert the two most brilliant stroke makers; second class Wilding; third class five USA players William Larned, Beals Wright, Maurice McLoughlin, William Clothier, R. Norris Williams and two British players Charles Dixon (tennis) and Arthur Gore. Yet editors of The Field stated that if the world's best were brought together in a round robin tournament on a perfect court, Wilding would probably win.[13] Wilding is the Wimbledon champion, but lost on wood to Gobert and Dixon.

1913–present

From 1913 sources are more detailed and better documented.

Year	Consensus world No. 1	Consensus No. 2	Source of ranking and tournament results summary
1913	Anthony Wilding (NZL) A.	Norman Brooks (AUS) A.  Maurice McLoughlin (USA) A.	A. Wallis Myers of The Daily Telegraph Brookes only played in Australia and gave a walkover in the final of the Victorian Championships (then the most important tournament in Australia even ahead the Australasian Championship). Wilding won all three of the ILTF's World Championships – Wimbledon, World Hard Court Championships (Clay), World Covered Court Championships (Indoor). Maurice McLoughlin won the U.S. Championships. Rankings: The top 10 amateurs rankings were Wilding, Brookes & McLoughlin tied for 2nd, James Cecil Parke, R. Norris Williams, Percy Dixon, Otto Froitzheim, Stanley Doust, André Gobert, Max Decugis.[14]
1914	Maurice McLoughlin (USA) A.	Norman Brooks (AUS) A.  Anthony Wilding (NZL) A.	A. Wallis Myers of The Daily Telegraph; the top 10 amateurs rankings were McLoughlin, Brookes & Wilding tied for 2nd.[14] P.A. Vaile disagreed, arguing that James Cecil Parke had a stronger claim to the top ranking than McLoughlin's. However, Vaile also credited Brookes with having the greatest season in tennis history up to that time. Norman Brookes won Wimbledon, Wilding won the World Hard Court Championship (Clay).
1915– 1918	World War I, no world rankings
1919	Gerald Patterson (AUS) A.  Bill Johnston (USA) A.		A. Wallis Myers of The Daily Telegraph; the top 10 amateurs rankings were Patterson and Johnston tied for 1st.[14] Patterson won Wimbledon. Johnston won the U.S. Championships.
1920	Bill Tilden (USA) A.	Bill Johnston (USA) A.	A. Wallis Myers of The Daily Telegraph; at the top of amateur rankings were Tilden, Johnston.[14] Bill Tilden won Wimbledon and the U.S. Championship.
1921	Bill Tilden (USA) A.	Bill Johnston (USA) A.	A. Wallis Myers of The Daily Telegraph; Bill Tilden won Wimbledon, the World Hard Court Championships (Clay) & the U.S. Championships. Rankings: At the top of amateurs rankings were Tilden, Johnston. [14]
1922	Bill Johnston (USA) A.  Bill Tilden (USA) A.		Capt. H. Liddell Hart New York Times; A. Wallis Myers of The Daily Telegraph. Bill Tilden won the U.S. Championships. Rankings: Liddell Hart ranked the amateurs as 1. Johnston, 2. Tilden. Myers ranked Tilden ahead of Johnston because he thought that Tilden was more intelligent on a tennis court than his countryman, but Johnston beat Tilden three times in four meetings that year. New York Times ranked 1) Tilden, 2) Johnston.
1923	Bill Tilden (USA) A.	Bill Johnston (USA) A.	A. Wallis Myers of The Daily Telegraph; Johnston won two of the three International Lawn Tennis Federation (ILTF) designated 'World Championships' – Wimbledon and the World Hard Court Championships (Clay). Bill Tilden won the U.S. Championships. Rankings: The top 10 amateurs rankings were Tilden, Johnston.[14]
1924	Bill Tilden (USA) A.	Vincent Richards (USA) A.	A. Wallis Myers of The Daily Telegraph;The U.S. Championships, from this year officially designated as a Major Championship by the ILTF,[15] was won by Tilden. The Olympic winner in Paris was Vincent Richards. Rankings: The top amateurs rankings were Tilden, Richards.[14]
1925	Bill Tilden (USA) A.	Bill Johnston (USA) A.	A. Wallis Myers of The Daily Telegraph; Rankings: The top amateurs rankings were Tilden, Johnston.[14] Tilden won the U.S. Championships.
1926	René Lacoste (FRA) A.	Jean Borotra (FRA) A.	A. Wallis Myers of The Daily Telegraph; Rankings: The top amateurs rankings were Lacoste, Borotra.[16]
1927	René Lacoste (FRA) A.	Bill Tilden (USA) A.	A. Wallis Myers of The Daily Telegraph;[17] Bowers; Rankings: The top amateur rankings were Lacoste, Tilden.
1928	Henri Cochet (FRA) A.	René Lacoste (FRA) A.	A. Wallis Myers of The Daily Telegraph;[18] Bowers; Cochet won the French and U.S. Championships, Lacoste won Wimbledon; Rankings: Bowers ranks, in merging his pro list into Myers's amateur list, as being Cochet, Lacoste.
1929	Henri Cochet (FRA) A.	René Lacoste (FRA) A.	A. Wallis Myers of The Daily Telegraph;[19] Bowers; Lacoste won the French Championships,Cochet won Wimbledon; Rankings: Bowers ranks the top, amateur and pro, as being Cochet, Lacoste.
1930	Henri Cochet (FRA) A.	Bill Tilden (USA) A.	A. Wallis Myers of The Daily Telegraph;[20] Bowers; Cochet won the French Championships, Tilden won Wimbledon; Rankings: Bowers ranks the top, both amateur and pro, as being Cochet, Tilden,
1931	Bill Tilden (USA) P.	Henri Cochet (FRA) A.	A. Wallis Myers of The Daily Telegraph; Bowers; Cochet had only three tournament wins (Monte Carlo being the most prestigious); Tilden, aged 38, turned professional and, in a World (Pro) Championship[21] head-to-head tour, defeated Koželuh 50 to 17 in the North American tour. The two players also competed in the first European tour with Martin Plaa, Albert Burke, Frank Hunter and Hans Nüsslein: many results are unknown nevertheless Tilden lost only one match against all these opponents (Koželuh at Amsterdam); Tilden also defeated Richards, who had abandoned his retirement, either 12–1 over the year (McCauley) or 10 to 0 (Bowers); Tilden beat Richards in the U.S. Pro; Rankings: A. Wallis Myers ranked Cochet No. 1 amateur thanks to his wins over the British players in the Davis Cup. Bowers ranks Tilden, Cochet No. 1 and No. 2; this was the first year a professional was ranked either No. 1 or No. 2.
1932	Ellsworth Vines (USA) A.	Bill Tilden (USA) P.	A. Wallis Myers of The Daily Telegraph;[22] Bowers; Vines, a 20-year-old, won Wimbledon and the U.S. Championships; in the pros Tilden beat Vinnie Richards 12–1 and had a leading record against Nusslein; Koželuh beat Nüsslein in the U.S. Pro and beat Plaa at Beaulieu; Rankings: Bowers ranks Vines, Tilden.
1933	Jack Crawford (AUS) A.	Fred Perry (GBR) A.	A. Wallis Myers of The Daily Telegraph; Bowers; Vines; Burke; Crawford won 13 consecutive amateur tournaments, including the first three of the Grand Slam tournaments, the Australian Championships, the French Championships, and Wimbledon, finally losing in five sets to Perry in the 4th, the U.S. Championships; Rankings: Bowers ranks the top as being Crawford No. 1, Perry No. 2. Vines ranks pros 1) Tilden 2) Cochet and amateurs 1) Crawford 2) Perry and stated Tilden would "have little difficulty beat Crawford", Vines did not include himself in the rankings either as a pro or as an amateur (Vines had just turned pro);[23] Albert Burke ranked 1) Nusslein 2) Tilden 3) Kozeluh.
1934	Ellsworth Vines (USA) P.	Fred Perry (GBR) A.	A. Wallis Myers of The Daily Telegraph; Bowers; Tennis newspaper; Pierre Gillou; Perry won three of the four Grand slam tournaments; Australian Championships, Wimbledon and the U.S. Championships, Gottfried von Cramm won the French Championships; Vines, aged 22, turned pro; in their initial segment of the World Professional Championship[24] head-to-head tour, Vines defeated Tilden 11 matches to 9; then in a USA-France tour Vines beat Cochet 10–0 and Plaa 8–2; Bowers says that by the end of May, having played somewhat more than 50 matches, Vines led Tilden by 19 wins; Nüsslein beat Vines and Koželuh in the U.S. Pro; Vines beat Nüsslein in the first Wembley Pro and in the Paris Indoor (not to be confused with the French Pro); Rankings: Bowers ranks the top as being Perry, Vines. 'Tennis' Italian newspaper ranks 1) Vines 2) Tilden 3) Perry.[25] Pierre Gillou ranks 1) Vines 2) Perry.[26]
1935	Ellsworth Vines (USA) P.	Fred Perry (GBR) A.	Bowers; Henri Cochet; A. Wallis Myers of The Daily Telegraph; Perry won Wimbledon and the French Championships; Vines beat Tilden in the Wembley Pro and in the Southport Pro; Vines beat Nüsslein in the French Pro; Vines beat Les Stoefen 25–1 in a World (Pro) Championship[27] head-to-head tour; after Stoefen fell ill, Vines beat Nüsslein in another tour about three-quarters of the time (and also Tilden in their few meetings); Rankings: Bowers ranks the top as being Perry and Vines tied for No. 1; in April the French amateur tennis association ranked the top six as being identical to Bowers's except that Vines was ahead of Perry. Cochet's rankings were 1) Vines 2) Tilden 3) Perry[28]
1936	Fred Perry (GBR) A.  Ellsworth Vines (USA) P.	both ranked equally	Bowers; A. Wallis Myers of The Daily Telegraph; L'Auto; Donald Budge; Bill Tilden; Perry won Wimbledon and the U.S. Championships; in the American tour Vines easily defeated Les Stoefen (finals standings are unknown but on March 29, Vines led 33–5) and in the Asian tour Vines led Tilden 8–1 at the end of the Japanese part of the tour; Bowers states that a) Vines and Nüsslein never met between the French Pro in 1935 and the Wembley Pro in 1939 and b) Vines didn't enter any tournament from 1936 to 1938 included; Rankings: Bowers ranks the top as being Perry, Vines; Bowers also writes that three evaluators, L'Auto, Budge and Tilden ranked Vines ahead Perry for the year. Harry Hopman ranked Perry as his top.[29]
1937	Fred Perry (GBR) P.  Ellsworth Vines (USA) P.  Don Budge (USA) A.	all 3 ranked equally	Bowers; A. Wallis Myers of The Daily Telegraph; Budge won Wimbledon and the U.S. Championships, Vines defeated Perry in the World Professional title[30] head-to-head tour 32–29 while Perry won a short British Isles tour 6–3; Perry defeated Tilden 4–3 in America; Vines and Perry didn't enter any tournament; Rankings: Bowers ranks the top as being Perry, Vines, and Budge tied for No. 1.
1938	Don Budge (USA) A.	Ellsworth Vines (USA) P.	Bowers; A. Wallis Myers of The Daily Telegraph; Budge became the first amateur player to win all four of the Grand Slam tournaments; in the pros, in the World Professional Championship[31] tour Vines defeated Perry 49–35; Vines still didn't enter any tournament as probably in 1936 and surely in 1937; Rankings: Bowers ranks the top as being Budge, Vines.
1939	Don Budge (USA) P.	Ellsworth Vines (USA) P.	John Olliff of The Daily Telegraph; Bowers; Budge defeated Vines 22–17 in the World Professional Championship[32] tour and also defeated Perry 28–8; Vines beat Perry, Budge defaulted, in the U.S. Pro; Budge beat Vines and Tilden in the French Pro and beat Nüsslein, Vines, and Tilden in the Wembley Pro; Vines lost to Nüsslein at Southport; Budge, Vines, Tilden, and Stoefen competed in a spring-summer European tour that was mainly a succession of 4-man tournaments; Budge was the winner, in particular beating Vines 15–5; Rankings: Bowers ranks the top as being Budge, Vines.
1940	Don Budge (USA) P.	Fred Perry (GBR) P.	Bowers; Budge beat Perry in the U.S. Pro; Rankings: There were no more world rankings by the Telegraph but Bowers ranks the top as being Budge and Perry.
1941	Fred Perry (GBR) P.  Bobby Riggs (USA) A.	both ranked equally	Bowers; Riggs won the U.S. Championships; Perry completely dominated Tilden in a summer tour; Perry won 5 pro tournaments out of 5 including the U.S. Pro over Dick Skeen; Skeen was runner-up to Perry in 4 tournaments; Rankings: There were no more world amateur rankings because of the war but Bowers ranks the top 6 as being amateur Riggs and pro Perry in a tie for first place.
1942	Don Budge (USA) P.	Bobby Riggs (USA) P.  Wayne Sabin (USA) P.	USPLTA; Ray Bowers; Riggs and Frank Kovacs turned pro; in round robin matches Budge was the winner, 52–18; Riggs was 36–36, Kovacs 25–26, Perry 23–30, Stoefen 2–28; Kovacs won his first five matches against Budge; Budge beat Riggs in U.S. Pro; Rankings: Ray Bowers ranks the top 8 as: Budge, Riggs and Sabin tied for No. 2, Kovacs fourth, Perry fifth, the top five pros ahead amateurs Schroeder No. 6 and Parker No. 7, professional Skeen being No. 8; the USPLTA ranked the best pros as Budge, Riggs, Sabin, and Kovacs in that order.
1943– 1944	World War II, no world rankings
1945	Bobby Riggs (USA) P.	Don Budge (USA) P.	Ray Bowers; WPTA; Tilden In the pro circuit the business return was slow: Riggs defeated Budge in the biggest pro tournament of the year, The US Pro Hardcourt Championships held at the Los Angeles Tennis Club, missing Kovacs and Van Horn; on December 27–30 Riggs won a second tournament, the Santa Barbara Invitational Pro Tournament, California, defeating Perry; Kovacs defeated Welby Van Horn in the final of the World Professional Tennis Championships (WPTA) in San Francisco in May; in the summer before the soldiers came back to civilian life a 5-meeting series under the Davis Cup format was held between the US Army Air Corps, with Budge (pro) and Parker (amateur), and the US Navy, with Riggs (pro) and Sabin (pro), Riggs overcame Budge 3–2 and amateur Parker 3–2, thus indicating that Riggs was probably the best player in the world in 1945; Rankings: World Professional Tennis Association rankings 1) Kovacs 2) Van Horn 3) Budge 4) Tilden 5) Riggs; Tilden ranked 1) Budge 2) Kovacs 3) Riggs 4) Van Horn; Ray Bowers wrote "The limited tennis activity over the last three years of the war dictates a single ranking list covering the entire period" he ranked the best players in the world for the entire 1943–1945 period: 1. Riggs, 2. Budge,
1946	Bobby Riggs (USA) P.	Don Budge (USA) P.	PPA Point Rankings; Bobby Riggs; Riggs defeated Don Budge 24–22 on the Jack Harris World Pro Championship[33] tour (Budge making a recovery from 1–12 down),[34] Tilden and the Professional Players Association organized a series of 31 tournaments with a points system: Riggs won 14 of them, Kovacs 7, Perry 4, Budge 3, Van Horn 2, and Skeen 1. Rankings: PPA Tournament series final points standings, Riggs 278, Budge 164, Kovacs 149, van Horn 143; Riggs beat Budge in U.S. Pro at Forest Hills (included in tournament series); the Official PPA rankings for the year were 1) Riggs, 2) Budge.[35] Riggs regarded his win of tournament series as proof of his world No. 1 pro rank; Kramer thinks that Riggs and Budge were probably better than him in 1946.
1947	Bobby Riggs (USA) P.	Jack Kramer (USA) A./P.	Courier-Post (Camden) Tilden was imprisoned for sexual offenses and his series of tournaments fell apart; Riggs organized a head-to-head USA Pro Challenge Series between Riggs and Kovacs which Kovacs won 6 matches to 5.[b] Kramer won 8 of 9 amateur tournaments and 48 of 49 matches (among them his two singles in the Challenge Round of the Davis Cup);[47] Riggs beat Don Budge both in U.S. Pro at Forest Hills and in U.S. Pro Indoor.[48] Budge won a European tour against Riggs. In December 1947, in the first few matches of their world pro championship tour, Riggs held a 2–1 edge in play against Kramer and continued to lead into January.[49] Rankings: Arriving at a number one ranking for 1947 is difficult, because in the pro ranks there was no long annual tour and Riggs, Budge and Kovacs all achieved significant wins, plus Kramer was the top amateur. Courier-Post (Camden, N. J.) on January 15, 1948, said Riggs was the "top professional player last year"[50]
1948	Jack Kramer (USA) P.	Bobby Riggs (USA) P.	USPLTA; Kramer defeated Riggs 69–20 on the World Pro Championship head-to-head tour after trailing Riggs 6–8 and then equalizing at 14–14; in the preliminary matches Dinny Pails beat Pancho Segura 41–31 according to Kramer;[51] Kramer beat Riggs in U.S. Pro at Forest Hills the most important pro tournament by far this year; then the 4 touring men played a short tour in South America in July on slow courts enabling Riggs to win his fair share of matches against Kramer (according to Pails in his book "Set Points"); Kramer ended the year by winning the Australian Pro tour in September–November, with the incomplete standings being as follows: Kramer 19–4 (1 match unfinished), Segura 14–9 (1 unfinished), Riggs 7–17, Pails 6–16 (2 unfinished). Rankings: USPLTA ranked Kramer as No. 1 for the year followed by Riggs.[52]
1949	Jack Kramer (USA) P.	Pancho Gonzales (USA) A/P.  Bobby Riggs (USA) P.	USPLTA; Daily Telegraph; In the pro circuit Kramer was clearly the best winning Wembley Pro over Riggs and Scarborough Pro over Budge; Riggs won the U.S. Pro at Forest Hills over Budge, Kramer did not play; in the amateur circuit Gonzales won the U.S. Championships; then Gonzales played his first pro match against Kramer on October 25 on the head-to-head World Pro Championship tour (ended on May 21, 1950): at the end of November Kramer still led 22–4 proving he was undoubtedly the best player in the world. Rankings USPLTA ranked 1) Riggs, Kramer not ranked because it is said "did not play in a pro tourney this year".[53] However, this is not true, as Kramer won Wembley and Scarborough. Perhaps the ranking took into account U.S. tournaments only, Kramer did not play in the U.S. Pro at Forest Hills. Gonzales turned pro and was not ranked as an amateur for 1949 by Olliff in Daily Telegraph in October,[54] and Gonzales was not ranked as a pro for the year, either, due to insufficient data.
1950	Jack Kramer (USA) P.  Pancho Segura (ECU) P.	both ranked equally	USPLTA; Kramer finished beating Gonzales on the World Pro Championship head-to-head tour ended on May 21 (begun on October 25, 1949) 96–27 (97–26 according to Kramer himself); Segura beat Frank Parker "comfortably" in the head-to-head preliminary matches;[55] Kramer dominated Segura in the next World Pro Championship tour which began on October 26 (finished in March 1951): mid-November Kramer led 10–4; in tournaments Segura beat Kramer in Paris and once again in the semifinals of the Cleveland U.S. Pro (approved by USPLTA) before overcoming Kovacs in the final; Gonzales defeated Kramer at Philadelphia U.S. Pro Indoor final; Gonzales won at Wembley; Rankings: the USPLTA released official pro rankings for the year with Segura ranked No. 1 before Kramer. According to McCauley it was difficult to understand how the rankings were arrived at (however, the rankings had limited scope). McCauley thought Kramer was the number one because of Kramer's domination in tour whereas USPLTA probably thought Segura was the best because he had dominated the tournaments circuit and among them the U.S. Pro.[56]
1951	Jack Kramer (USA) P.	Pancho Segura (ECU) P.	USPLTA; PPAT; Kramer finally defeated Segura 64–28 on the World Pro Championship head-to-head tour finished in March (begun on October 28, 1950);[57] Kramer beat Segura and Gonzales in Philadelphia Pro; Segura beat Gonzales in U.S. Pro at Forest Hills (authorized by USPLTA); Kovacs beat Segura on clay in a close final at Cleveland U.S. Pro (according to PPAT) or Cleveland International Pro (billed title). Kovacs did not play Forest Hills U.S. Pro. Segura lost to Gonzales in final of Wembley Pro. Rankings: The USPLTA Official rankings for the year were Segura No. 1, "Kramer not ranked due to insufficient data".[1] Kramer had withdrawn from the U.S. Pro at Forest Hills and did not play in the Cleveland tournament. In July, following the Cleveland event, the PPAT ranked 2) Segura, behind 1) Kovacs.
1952	Pancho Gonzales (USA) P.  Pancho Segura (ECU) P.	both ranked equally	USPLTA; PPAT; International Tennis Hall of Fame; In his book McCauley has traced only 9 tournaments and a small US tour, among these 9 tournaments 2 seemed to be domestic Nationals (British Pro and German Pro) so there left 7 tournaments for the leading pros. Segura entered the 7 and Gonzales played 5 of them and won 4 and reached 1 final. Moreover, Gonzales defeated Segura 5 times out of 7 (including some tour matches in Paris in June). Gonzales defeated Segura (and Kramer) in Philadelphia Pro and Gonzales defeated Segura and Kramer in Wembley Pro; Segura overcame Gonzales in U.S. Pro (according to PPAT) or Cleveland International Pro (billed title) and in a tour match in Paris. Rankings; in McCauley's book page 57: "the USPLTA ranked Segura No. 1; Kramer was semi-retired; Budge and Gonzales played only sporadically"; PPAT ranked 1) Segura 2) Gonzales. International Tennis Hall of Fame Gonzales profile states that he "rose to the world No. 1 ranking" in 1952, and categorized him as "Top ranking: World number 1 (1952)".[58]
1953	Jack Kramer (USA) P.  Frank Sedgman (AUS) P.	both ranked equally	Tennis de France; Players Committee of the Cleveland U. S. Pro or World Pro; in the course of 1953 Lance Tingay wrote that it was very difficult to establish a hierarchy because Gonzales hadn't still met one of the top pros. Kramer retired on July 9 and never met Gonzales that year and Gonzales met Segura and Sedgman for the first time of the year only in November. Kramer defeated Sedgman 54–41 on the World Pro Championship head-to-head tour, Sedgman's results declining after a shoulder injury; during tour breaks these four men played three 4-man tournaments with Kramer winning two of them, the results included in the Kramer/Sedgman head-to-head tour; Kramer's whole 1953 record was 56–41 to Sedgman and 1–1 to Segura; Sedgman beat Gonzales in Wembley Pro, in Paris and in Lyon but the Australian trailed Segura 3–7 in head-to-head meetings. Kramer, Sedgman, and Segura did not participate in the Cleveland U.S. Pro[59] or Cleveland World Pro (billed title). Rankings: Tennis de France editors ranked Sedgman as world No. 1 professional, and Hoad world No. 1 amateur, in the only contemporary ranking for the full season. In June, the Players Committee of Jack March's Cleveland U. S. Pro or "World's Professional Championship"[60] tournament ranked the pros as 3) Kramer 6) Sedgman.[61]
1954	Pancho Gonzales (USA) P.	Pancho Segura (ECU) P.	International Professional Tennis Association; In 1953–1954 there was only one Australian tour during these two years in November–December 1954 and Gonzales won it (16–9 to Sedgman; 4–2 to Segura; 15–0 to McGregor); Gonzales also won the North American tour (January 3 – May 30), a succession of 70 tournaments, all being 4-man events but one, a 3-man event. On June 2 a report stated that Gonzales won 29 tournaments and had an 85–40 win-loss while Sedgman won 21 tournaments and Segura won 20 tournaments. In head-to-head meetings the results are not certain: Gonzales win-loss record against Segura was about 30–21 (or 30–20) and was possibly exactly equal against Sedgman, 30–21 (or 30–20) too; and Segura would have led Sedgman by the slightest margin, 23–22. Budge won only one match in that tour (against Gonzales in the first round of the Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles on February 19). Earn apparently won none and Riggs won one against Gonzales on May 20 in Victoria (Canada, British Columbia). In a 1975 article in the L.A. Times, this tour was referenced as a world championship title for Gonzales.[62] In autumn Segura, Gonzales, Sedgman and Kramer, coming back in singles, after his 20-month retirement, toured in the Far East with Segura's record as being Segura-Gonzales 1–1, Segura-Sedgman 2–1 and Segura-Kramer 4–0; in tournaments Gonzales defeated Segura in Kramer's L.A. U.S. Pro (with the USPLTA Benrus Cup) and Sedgman in Cleveland U.S. Pro or Cleveland World Pro (billed title); Wembley Indoor Pro and French Pro not held; Sedgman defeated Segura in the first Australian Pro of tennis history. Rankings; International Professional Tennis Association ranked pros 1) Gonzales 2) Segura.[63][64]
1955	Pancho Gonzales (USA) P.	Pancho Segura (ECU) P.  Tony Trabert (USA) A./P.	Lawn Tennis and Badminton; Gonzales-Trabert head-to-head World Professional Championship tour began in December, primarily on portable indoor canvas, and Gonzales led Trabert from the beginning; Gonzales dominated the pros beating Segura in U.S. Pro or Cleveland World Pro (billed title); Wembley and French Pro not held; Sedgman played very little in 1955 and underwent surgery for appendicitis; Rankings; Lawn Tennis and Badminton ranked the professionals as 1) Gonzales 2) Segura. Trabert dominated the amateur circuit. [65]
1956	Pancho Gonzales (USA) P.	Frank Sedgman (AUS) P.  Tony Trabert (USA) P.  Lew Hoad (AUS) A.	Jack March; World Professional Championship head-to-head tour, played mostly indoor on portable canvas, Gonzales defeated Trabert 74–27; Gonzales beat Segura in U.S. Pro or Cleveland World Pro (billed title); Gonzales beat Sedgman both in the round-robin inaugural L. A. Masters and in Wembley Pro; Gonzales lost to Trabert in final of French Pro. Sedgman missed the first five and a half months of 1956. Sedgman won round robin tournaments in December at Brisbane and Kooyong against Trabert, Segura, and Hartwig. Trabert won a South American tour against Gonzales 6 matches to 3, and led Gonzales in outdoor matches 15 to 11 on the year. Rankings; Jack March, promoter of the Cleveland tournament, ranked the pros as follows (Sedgman did not play in Cleveland): 1) Gonzales 2) Sedgman. Hoad ranked first in the amateur circuit, winning 16 tournaments and 88% of his matches.
1957	Pancho Gonzales (USA) P.	Ken Rosewall (AUS) P.	Encyclopedia.com; The Montana Standard; Gonzales defeated Rosewall 50–26 in the World Professional Championship head-to-head tour, Segura defeated Dinny Pails 51–8 in the head-to-head preliminary matches; Rosewall won a South African tour over Hoad, Kramer and Segura and an Australian tour over Hoad, Sedgman and Segura; Gonzales lost to Segura in Sydney Tournament of Champions; Gonzales beat Segura in U.S. Pro or Cleveland World Pro (billed title); Gonzales also won the Forest Hills Tournament of Champions and the Masters Round Robin Pro in Los Angeles; Rosewall beat Segura in Wembley Pro. Rankings: Encyclopedia.com states Gonzales was "unquestionably the best player in the world for eight years from 1955 to 1962".[66] Gonzales described as "the world's top professional tennis player" in The Montana Standard, 28 January 1958.[67]
1958	Pancho Gonzales (USA) P.	Lew Hoad (AUS) P.	Jack March; Robert Geist; Gonzales defeated Hoad 51–36 in the World Professional Championship tour; Gonzales beat Rosewall in the deciding match of Forest Hills Pro Tournament of Champions; Gonzales beat Hoad in U.S. Pro or Cleveland World Pro (billed title); Hoad won the Australian subtour over Gonzales 8–5; Hoad beat Sedgman and Gonzales in deciding matches to win the Kooyong Tournament of Champions; Hoad beat Gonzales in Sydney Masters and in the round-robin at Forest Hills Tournament of Champions; Hoad beat Trabert and Gonzales before losing to Rosewall at French Pro at Roland Garros; Rankings: Jack March's pro ranking: 1) Gonzales 2) Hoad; Geist's (pro-amateur combined) ranking: 1) Gonzales 2) Hoad.
1959	Pancho Gonzales (USA) P.  Lew Hoad (AUS) P.	both ranked equally	Ampol Point Rankings; Jack Kramer; Robert Roy in L'Équipe; Sydney Morning Herald; Robert Barnes; Mal Anderson;[68] Frank Sedgman; North American 4-man World Pro Championship tour, decided on the basis of money won, results: Gonzales 47–15, Hoad 42–20, Ashley Cooper 21–40, Mal Anderson 13–48; Hoad, however, defeated Gonzales 15–13 on the tour; Hoad won the 12-player field Ampol Open Trophy in a 15 tournament series with a point system. Hoad beat Gonzales and Rosewall to win the Forest Hills Tournament of Champions; Hoad beat Gonzales to win at Memphis (not included in Ampol series), at Perth in November and at Memorial Drive stadium in Adelaide in December; Hoad also won earlier tournaments at Perth and at Norwood Cricket Oval in Adelaide; Hoad won the final event, Qantas Kooyong in Dec./Jan. 1960. Gonzales beat Hoad at Melbourne Olympic Velodrome in January, at Sydney Marks Athletic Field, in the L.A. Masters, in U.S. Pro or Cleveland World Pro (billed title) (not included in the Ampol series), and at White City Tournament of Champions; Kramer's office stated Hoad led Gonzales 24 to 23 in matches against each other on the year; Hoad was 3 to 5 against Gonzales in the Ampol series; Rankings: Kramer's Ampol point rankings were: 1) Hoad (51 points), 2) Gonzales (43 points); in a discussion in World Tennis, Sedgman suggested ranking should be 1) Gonzales, 2) Hoad; in the same discussion, Anderson stated that Kramer had established a point system to determine the world rankings with the final results 1) Hoad 2) Gonzales; Robert Roy in L'Équipe pro-amateur combined ranking, as of 17 December, before end of season on 2 January 2, 1960: 1) Gonzales, 5) Hoad; Kramer's personal pro ranking (which differed from Kramer's Ampol point ranking): 1) Gonzales, 4) Hoad; Robert Barnes (Kramer's Australian manager) pro ranking: 1) Hoad, 2) Gonzales, Barnes relying on interim official Ampol ranking; Sydney Morning Herald on 10 January 1960 stated that Hoad had won "the title of world's top professional tennis player" and was "the game's top money earner".[69][70][c]
1960	Pancho Gonzales (USA) P.  Ken Rosewall (AUS) P.	both ranked equally	Jack Kramer; Encyclopedia.com; L'Équipe; Robert Geist, La Stampa, The San Mateo Times, Valley News;World Series 4-man matches for the World Pro Championship among 4 players: Gonzales 49–8, Rosewall 32–25, Segura 22–28, Alex Olmedo 11–44; just after this, Gonzales won a minor tournament and then retired for a short time; Rosewall beat Segura in Wembley Pro; Rosewall beat Hoad in French Pro at Roland Garros; Rosewall won 7 tournaments in the 1960 series and beat Hoad 4 to 3 in tournament finals (although this tally does not include the Kooyong final in January won by Hoad, which concluded the previous tournament series). Rosewall was defeated by Gonzales 20 to 5 in matches on the season. Gonzales and Hoad did not play against each other in 1960. According to Pacific Stars and Stripes (Nov. 1960), Kramer kept a points system for tournaments, with no apparent bonus prize award. Gonzales had withdrawn in May, just before the first tournament of the series in Melbourne. Hoad withdrew with back trouble following marathon final at Tokyo Japanese Pro in November. Rosewall was leading in points until Tokyo Japanese Pro, with Hoad No. 2, although Rosewall lost to Hoad in Tokyo, the lead then was uncertain. Final tournament in Australia was not played. Rankings: Final results of Kramer's point system unknown. Kramer's personal pro ranking 1) Gonzales 2) Sedgman for the year, ahead of Rosewall and Hoad, but Sedgman had a bad year and did not win any events, and Gonzales did not play the tournament series; L'Équipe ranked Rosewall No. 1 because of European results; in his book "DER GRÖSSTE MEISTER Die denkwürdige Karriere des australischen Tennisspielers Kenneth Robert Rosewall" Robert Geist co-ranked Gonzales & Rosewall No. 1. La Stampa on 26 December 1960 stated Gonzales was the best player in the world.[87] Valley News, 15 January 1961, ranked Gonzales the world's No. 1 tennis player, Hoad No. 2.[88] The Times (San Mateo) on 20 January 1961 stated Gonzales "still ranks as the no.1 tennis pro".[89] Encyclopedia.com states Gonzales was "unquestionably the best player in the world for eight years from 1955 to 1962".[66]
1961	Ken Rosewall (AUS) P.	Pancho Gonzales (USA) P.	IPTPA World Tour; Encyclopedia.com; L'Équipe; The Miami Herald; Time magazine; Mulloy; USPLTA Yearbook; Geist. There were 47 World Series Round Robin one-set matches for the world championship among 6 players, followed by 28 head-to-head one-set matches between the top 1 & 2 and 3 & 4 to determine the final champion and an official ranking for the contract pros. Rosewall, however, opted not to play in the World Series, and Hoad withdrew from the tour due to injury. Substitutions were permitted for injured players in the round robin: Gonzales-(sub. Segura) 33–14. No. 1 Gonzales then defeated No. 2 Gimeno 21–7. In tournaments, Rosewall beat Hoad (Gonzales lost to Hoad in semi-final) in Wembley Pro; Rosewall beat Gonzales in French Pro at Roland Garros; Gonzales beat Sedgman in a depleted U.S. Pro or Cleveland World Pro (billed title), Rosewall and Hoad did not play. Rosewall beat Gonzales in a 7-match tour of France, mostly on clay; Gonzales lost to Hoad in a 10-match tour of the British Isles, largely on grass. In late October Gonzales retired once again (for 20 months). Rankings: Gonzales was the official world number one as determined by the World Series ranking results. L'Équipe once again ranked 1) Rosewall, (2) Gonzales; In the Miami News on July 16, 1961 "(Gardnar) Mulloy rates Hoad as the world's no. 1 player", although four months of the season remained, Mulloy ranked Gonzales second, and ranked Rosewall below Gonzales; McCauley's 1961 chapter is entitled: Gonzales Still World Champion but says in the text that Rosewall had a good claim to being No. 1,[90] Geist ranked Rosewall No. 1 alone. The 1962 Yearbook of the USPLTA reported "1961 World Professional Rankings" as follows: 1) Rosewall 2) Gonzales. Time magazine stated Rosewall was no. 1 between 1961 and 1964.[91] The Miami Herald on 28 December 1961 (syndicated in other newspapers) ranked Gonzales best pro for the year.[92] Encyclopedia.com states Gonzales was "unquestionably the best player in the world for eight years from 1955 to 1962".[66]
1962	Ken Rosewall (AUS) P.	Lew Hoad (AUS) P.	Ken Rosewall; The Canberra Times; Time Magazine; UPI poll; no official pro championship tour or point tour (apart from Trofeo Facis, a point tour), very little tennis from late March to late July; Rosewall won 10 pro tournaments including Wembley and French Pro; Rosewall beat Hoad in the Kooyong final; Rosewall beat Hoad in Wembley Pro; Rosewall beat Gimeno in French Pro at Roland Garros; Hoad beat Rosewall in the Adelaide Pro, Hoad won the Trofeo Facis tour of Italy (Rosewall third place), Hoad won the Zurich tournament (Rosewall lost to Segura in semifinal); Hoad won a 5-match tour of Britain against Trabert 4 to 1. Rankings: Rosewall announced his personal Pro/Amateur rankings at the end of 1962: 1) Rosewall 2) Hoad. A UPI poll of 85 U.S. sports editors rated the top players in all of tennis for 1962 as 1) Hoad 3) Rosewall. The UPI poll was from 30 January 1963, following the Australian tour of that year. Time magazine stated Rosewall was no. 1 between 1961 and 1964.[93] The Canberra Times of 7 January 1963 stated Rosewall was the world's "top" professional tennis player.[94]
1963	Ken Rosewall (AUS) P.	Rod Laver (AUS) P.	IPTPA World Tour; Frank Sedgman; Time magazine; St. Louis Post-Dispatch In the Australia and New Zealand Tour, Rosewall dominated the new pro recruit Rod Laver, 11 victories to 2 in matches in Australia and New Zealand, although they were 2 to 2 in best-of-five set matches (Laver winning at Kooyong and Adelaide), and Laver lost to Hoad 8 to 0; then the World Championship Series was held in the US with six players, two U.S. players, Buchholz and MacKay, one Spaniard Gimeno, one Chilean Ayala and only two Australians Rosewall and Laver (Hoad was absent for five months due to a shoulder injury): in the first phase Rosewall ended first (31 wins – 10 losses) ahead Laver (26- 16). In the second (and final) phase Rosewall won the tour, beating Laver 14–4. Then Rosewall captured five tournaments including the three majors of that year and Laver reached the finals of two majors and also won five tournaments; Rosewall defeated Laver in U.S. Pro at Forest Hills; Rosewall defeated Laver in French Pro at Stade Coubertin; Rosewall defeated Hoad in Wembley Pro; Rosewall lost to Hoad in final of televised series; Rosewall lost to Hoad in Tokyo Japanese Pro; Laver won the Trofeo Facis tour of Italy. Rankings: The IPTPA World Championship Tour provided an official ranking order for the professionals, Hoad not ranked due to absence for injury. 1) Rosewall 2) Laver. In January 1964 after two tournaments, Sedgman stated in an interview that Laver "is putting real pressure on Rosewall, our top player." Rosewall was "recognized as the no. 1 pro" in a newspaper article on April 3, 1964 (after the Australasian segment of the 1964 tour).[95] Time magazine stated Rosewall was no. 1 between 1961 and 1964.[96]
1964	Ken Rosewall (AUS) P.  Rod Laver (AUS) P.	both ranked equally	IPTPA Point Rankings; Buchholz; International Tennis Hall of Fame; The New York Times; Rod Laver; Raymond Lee; Geist; Australia Day Honours List; Norris McWhirter in The Observer; British Lawn Tennis magazine; Joe McCauley; Michel Sutter; Tennis Australia website; World Tennis magazine; National Portrait Gallery of Australia; Time magazine; The pros established a ranking system based on points awarded at 19 tournaments (7 points for the winner, 4 for the runner-up, 3 for 3rd place, 2 for 4th and 1 for each quarter-finalist); the final official positions were: 1) Rosewall, 2) Laver. Laver beat Rosewall & Gonzales in U.S. Pro at Longwood; Rosewall beat Laver in French Pro at Stad Coubertin; Laver beat Rosewall in Wembley Pro. Rosewall won 11 tournaments in all and finished first in the Trofeo Facis tour of Italy and in the European Cup tour. Laver won 12 tournaments in all and won a tour of Queensland over Hoad. However, Laver, Rosewall, and Anderson finished behind Hoad in a 4-man 16-day 24-match New Zealand tour (Laver tied Hoad at 7 wins, 5 losses, but lost his series with Hoad 1 to 3 and finished second). Rosewall, Laver, Hoad, and Anderson lost to Gonzales in the U.S. Pro Indoor at White Plains, N.Y., the final against Rosewall a long five-set match. In all known matches throughout the year, Laver beat Rosewall 17–7. Rosewall won a World champion Challenge match against Laver in Johannesburg at the end of October.[97] Rankings: Buchholz, writing in World Tennis, named Rosewall as the official No. 1 based on the pro tournament point ranking system; Laver is quoted by McCauley as saying after the Wembley Pro final: "I’ve still plenty of ambitions left and would like to be the World's No. 1. Despite this win, I am not there yet – Ken is. I may have beaten him more often than he has beaten me this year but he has won the biggest tournaments except here. I’ve lost to other people but Ken hasn’t. We are working on a points system which is the soundest way so that everyone has to try hard all the time and Ken has the most points";[98] Rod Laver later claimed that by the end of 1964 he was ranked No. 1 ahead of Rosewall.[99] Australia Day Honours List ranked Laver as No. 1 for 1964.[100] International Tennis Hall of Fame profile for Laver ranks Laver No. 1 for 1964.[101] Raymond Lee writing in Tennis Week September 14, 2007 ranked Laver No. 1 for 1964. The New York Times in article by John Clarke on Sept. 19, 2018, ranked Laver No. 1 for 1964.[102] Robert Geist co-ranked Laver & Rosewall No. 1 (in his book "DER GRÖSSTE MEISTER Die denkwürdige Karriere des australischen Tennisspielers Kenneth Robert Rosewall"). McCauley's 1964 chapter is entitled: Rosewall Tops Again But Only Just;[103] Norris McWhirter in The Observer in December 1964 ranked Rosewall one and Laver two in his rankings list.[104][105] British Lawn Tennis magazine listed Rosewall number one for the year.[106] Justine Cohen writing for World Tennis Magazine lists Laver as No. 1 for 1964.[107] Laver's official Australian government gallery portrait tells us in 1964 that Laver was No. 1.[108] "Tennis Australia" in partnership with the Australian Sports Commission has Laver and Rosewall listed as joint No. 1s in 1964.[109] Time magazine stated Rosewall was no. 1 between 1961 and 1964.[110] Michel Sutter ranked Rosewall number one.
1965	Rod Laver (AUS) P.	Ken Rosewall (AUS) P.	IPTPA Point Rankings;Though Rosewall won 2 of the 3 most important tournaments, Laver was the new undisputed king of tennis. Laver won 21 tournaments in all (to Rosewall's 7). Rosewall beat Laver in U.S. Pro at Longwood; Rosewall beat Laver in French Pro at Stad Coubertin; Laver beat Gimeno in Wembley Pro; Laver beat Rosewall 16–7 in head-to-head matches. Rosewall and Laver both lost to Gonzales in the richest tournament of the year, the CBS Dallas, played on clay with a $25,000 total purse. Rankings: Laver finished as the official No. 1 in the pros' point ranking system, with Rosewall second.
1966	Rod Laver (AUS) P.	Ken Rosewall (AUS) P.	IPTPA Point Rankings; This was the year of the greatest rivalry between Laver and Rosewall; they shared all the major tournaments with Laver slightly ahead: in the world circuit played by the leading pros, Laver won 15 tournaments including Forest Hills Pro, the U.S. Pro at Longwood and Wembley Pro over Rosewall runner-up the three times, Rosewall won 9 tournaments including Madison Square Garden Pro and the French Pro at Stad Coubertin over ... Laver finalist both times; Laver and Rosewall were tied 7–7 in head-to-head matches. Rankings: Laver finished as the official No. 1 in the pro point ranking system.
1967	Rod Laver (AUS) P.	Ken Rosewall (AUS) P.	IPTPA Point Rankings; Laver probably was at the peak of his whole career, at least on fast courts, winning 19 tournaments including all the majors: the Madison Square Garden Pro, the U.S. Pro at Longwood, Wimbledon Pro, the French Pro at Stad Coubertin and Wembley Pro; Rosewall stayed the n°2 in the world capturing 7 tournaments and reaching 3 majors finals in Madison Square Garden Pro, Wimbledon Pro and Wembley Pro; in head-to-head matches Laver beat Rosewall 8–5 and Gimeno 12–4, Rosewall and Gimeno were equal, 7–7. Rankings: Laver finished as the official No. 1 in the pro point ranking system.
↓  Open Era  ↓
1968	Rod Laver (AUS)	Arthur Ashe (USA) A.	Panel of European Journalists; Bud Collins; Joe McCauley of World Tennis; Lance Tingay of The Daily Telegraph; The Open Era began in April and at least 10 open tournaments were played with professionals winning 8 and amateurs 2 with the pros leading in matches won 199 to 45.[111] Most pros played either the National Tennis League or World Championship Tennis circuits, so only 3 tournaments featured all the best players: 1) Wimbledon, where Rod Laver defeated Tony Roche in the finals, after they beat Arthur Ashe, an amateur, and Ken Rosewall in the semi-finals; 2) the Pacific Southwest Open, where Laver defeated Rosewall, who defeated Ashe in the SFs; and 3) the U.S. Open, where Ashe defeated Tom Okker, a "national registered" professional (Okker was awarded the first prize money at the U.S. Open), with Laver losing in the 4th round. In major pro events with both NTL and WCT players, Laver won both the U.S. Pro at Longwood and the last-ever French Pro at Roland Garros, both over Newcombe. Overall, Laver won 13 titles, although 5 of his wins were in 4-man invitationals; his wins included 7 of the 11 NTL tournaments and he was 1–0 vs. Ashe and 5–2 vs. Rosewall. Ashe won 10 tournaments,[112] including the U.S. Amateur Championships, and 8 other amateur titles and was 11–1 in the Davis Cup, which allowed only amateurs and national registered professionals to participate. Rankings: Collins and a 17-member panel of mostly European journalists both ranked players as 1) Laver, 2) Ashe; McCauley concurred;[113] Tingay had the same top 2 as Collins.
1969	Rod Laver (AUS)	Tony Roche (AUS)	Sports-Informations-Dienst Panel (SID); Bud Collins; Lance Tingay; Rod Laver won the Grand Slam: At Wimbledon Laver beat John Newcombe, who defeated Tony Roche in the SFs; at the U.S. Open Laver defeated Roche; at the French Open, Laver beat Ken Rosewall, after they beat Okker and Roche in the semifinals (7 of the top 10 players played); and, at the Australian Open Laver defeated Roche in the SFs (7 of top 10 played). Of the 8 tournaments with at least 6 of the top 10 players participating, Laver won 4 (he played all 8), including: the U.S. Pro Indoor and the Wembley Pro, both over Roche; South Africa over Okker; and the U.S. Pro over Newcombe; while among the other 4 events, Roche won Sydney over Laver. Laver won 18 tournaments, including 6 of the 9 National Tennis League events, for a 106–16 record[114] and was 3–0 vs Okker, 2–1 vs Newcombe but only 4–5 vs Roche. Roche won 5 titles with 5 runner-ups with a 63–13 record[d] Rankings: The panel for SID by Ulrich Kaiser, with 17 journalists (mostly from European newspapers including Hellberg, Mezzanotte, McCualey, Grau, Bellamy, Tingay, De Bie), voted as follows: 1) Laver (170 points), 2) Roche (153); Tingay and Collins concurred.
1970	Rod Laver (AUS)  Ken Rosewall (AUS)	both ranked equally	Martini and Rossi Award;The WCT panel; Judith Elian of L'Equipe; Joe McCauley; Bud Collins; Lance Tingay; Robert Geist; Newcombe won Wimbledon final over Rosewall, the strongest and largest draw field that year; Rosewall won the U.S. Open over Newcombe and Roche (SFs) (Rod Laver lost 4th round at both). Of the 5 other tournaments with 8 of the top 10 players playing, Laver won 4: the WCT U.S. Pro Indoor over Roche; the WCT Dunlop Sydney Open over Rosewall; the Grand Prix Pacific Southwest Open over Newcombe; and the Grand Prix Wembley Pro. In the 5th, the U.S. Pro (joint Grand Prix-WCT), Roche beat Laver. Of the next 9 events with 4 or more of the top 10 players, Laver won 2 of the 5 he entered. In total, Laver won 12 ATP events, plus the Tennis Champions Classic, a series of two-player events, defeating Rosewall in the final, and 2 other invitational events. He was 84–14 including 5–0 vs. Rosewall, 3–0 vs. Newcombe, and 1–2 vs. Roche. Rankings: The panel of 10 international journalists for the 'Martini and Rossi' Award, ranked Rosewall No. 1 with 97 points (out of 100) over Laver (89 pts). The panel of 12 journalists which made the WCT draw for 1971 ranked Laver 1st,[115] Rosewall 2nd; Elian placed Rosewall 1st ahead of Laver; Robert Geist co-ranked Rosewall, Laver and Newcombe No. 1; Newcombe in "Newk-Life On and Off the Court" rated Laver No. 1; three prominent journalists – Tingay, McCauley and Collins, all ranked Newcombe No. 1 ahead of Rosewall and Laver, reflecting the importance of Wimbledon.
1971	Stan Smith (USA)  John Newcombe (AUS)	generally ranked equally	Martini-Rossi Award; Lance Tingay; Bud Collins; Judith Elian; Robert Geist; WCT and independent players played separate circuits with top WCT players playing only 1 or neither of the U.S. and French Opens in order to rest. Wimbledon, which had most top players playing, was won by John Newcombe over Stan Smith and Ken Rosewall (SFs). The U.S. Open was won by Smith defeating Kodes, who beat Newcombe in the 1st round (event had 7 of the top 10; Laver and Rosewall of WCT absent). Smith won 6 titles overall, including 3 significant Grand Prix events, and was 70–13.[116] Newcombe also won the U.S. Pro Indoor over Laver for a total of 5 titles for a 53–14 record, including 1–1 vs. Smith, 3–1 vs. Rosewall and 1–1 vs. Laver. Rankings: The Martini-Rossi Award, voted for by 11 journalists, was shared by Smith and Newcombe with 96 points (out of 110); Elian co-ranked Newcombe and Smith No. 1; Geist co-ranked Smith, Newcombe and Rosewall No. 1; prominent and established ranking authorities Tingay and Collins both ranked Newcombe ahead of Smith.
1972	Stan Smith (USA)	Ilie Năstase (ROM)	Judith Elian; Lance Tingay; Joe McCauley; Bud Collins; WCT and independent players played separate circuits most of the year with WCT players banned from the French Open, Wimbledon and the Davis Cup by the ILTF. An agreement allowed WCT players to play the U.S. Open and Grand Prix events thereafter, but the top players of the two groups did not play each other aside from Ilie Năstase defeating Arthur Ashe (WCT) in the finals of the U.S. Open after Ashe beat Stan Smith in the QFs. Smith won the Pacific Southwest Open, an "A" Grand Prix tournament with some WCT players (Rosewall lost QFs; Nastase and Ashe lost 3rd round; Laver and Newcombe absent), the Stockholm "A" Grand Prix, which had some lower-ranked WCT players, as well as the depleted Wimbledon over Năstase. Smith won 4 of the 7 "A" or "B" Grand Prix he entered and 9 titles overall for a 79–12 record (including 7–1 in the Davis Cup; defeated Nastase in the finals) with a 4–1 record vs. Nastase. Năstase also won the Masters over Smith (no WCT players) for 12 titles in total (2 "A" or "B" Grand Prix) for a 110–19 record. Rankings: Elian, Tingay and McCauley all ranked Smith No. 1.
1973	Ilie Năstase (ROM)	John Newcombe (AUS)	Tennis Magazine (U.S.); Bud Collins; Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) year-end Point System; Ilie Năstase won the French Open (no other the top players made the SFs) and the year-end Masters defeating Tom Okker and Jimmy Connors (SFs) (John Newcombe made SFs; Stan Smith lost round robin). Newcombe beat Jan Kodes to win the U.S. Open after they defeated Ken Rosewall and Smith in the SFs (Nastase lost 2nd round) and won the Australian Open, Rosewall, who lost in the 3rd round, being the only other top 10 player entered. Nastase won 15 of 31 events he entered, including 3 of 5 USTLA Indoor Circuit events he played and 2 Group A Grand Prix tournaments (of 6 played), including the Italian Open; he was 1–0 vs. Newcombe and Smith and 4–1 vs. Connors. Newcombe only won 1 other title but was runner-up in 5, including in 2 of the 3 Group A Grand Prix events he entered. Smith and Newcombe did not play each other, apart from a climactic Davis Cup match in the final at Cleveland, probably the finest match of the year, won by Newcombe. Nastase lost to Smith in the Davis Cup semi-final. Rankings: The new ATP Point System (based on average points earned per event excluding the Masters and WCT Finals, minimum 12 events) had Nastase No. 1, Newcombe No. 2,Tennis Magazine (U.S.) ranked Năstase No. 1, Newcombe No. 2; Collins agreed with the top 2. The prominent tennis writer and analyst Tingay ranked Newcombe No. 1, Nastase No. 2.
1974	Jimmy Connors (USA)	No consensus among the sources:  John Newcombe (AUS)  Guillermo Vilas (ARG)	Tennis Magazine (U.S.); World Tennis; ATP year-end Point System; Bud Collins; Judith Elian; Lance Tingay; Jimmy Connors won Wimbledon and the U.S. Open, both over 39-year-old Ken Rosewall (who defeated John Newcombe at both (QF and SF)), plus the Australian Open (Newcombe lost QFs; 3 top 10 players played and its ATP points were equal to a mid-level ("B") Grand Prix tournament), but was banned from playing the French Open by its organizers because he signed to play World Team Tennis with a season overlapping the event. Connors won 15 titles on a record of 99–4, including 3 of the 6 top-level ("AA") Grand Prix events he entered (including the US Clay Court over Björn Borg, their only match). Connors did not play the WCT circuit in the winter/spring instead playing the USLTA's indoor circuit, winning 7 of his titles, and did not play Newcombe or Vilas this year. Newcombe won 10 events, including 4 of 10 in 1 of the 3 groups of the WCT circuit, the non-tour affiliated Palm Springs (with 7 of top 10 players), and the WCT Finals over Borg (Guillermo Vilas and Rosewall did not play) and played few GP events, winning 3 mid-level events, defeated Rosewall in a final; Newcombe was 2–0 vs. Borg. Vilas won the year-end Masters defeated Ilie Nastase in the finals, plus defeated Newcombe (their only match) and Borg in the round robin (Connors absent; Laver and Rosewall ineligible) plus 6 clay GP events (out of 20), including 3 AAs out of 9, but did not make the QFs of a Grand Slam. Rankings: The ATP Point System had Connors No. 1, Newcombe No. 2, and Villas No. 5 (no points awarded for his Masters victory). All sources had Connors No. 1 but No. 2 was disputed: Tennis Magazine (US) picked Newcombe, World Tennis and Collins picked Vilas (plus had Newcombe No. 3).
1975	Arthur Ashe (USA)	No consensus among sources:  Björn Borg (SWE)  Jimmy Connors (USA)  Manuel Orantes (ESP)	Tennis Magazine (U.S.); World Tennis; Bud Collins; Judith Elian; Barry Lorge of the Washington Post; Lance Tingay; Steve Flink; ATP Awards and Point System; Arthur Ashe won Wimbledon defeating Jimmy Connors (their only match of the year) and Björn Borg (in the SFs) (Guillermo Vilas lost QFs; Manuel Orantes absent); Manuel Orantes defeated Connors on the new clay at the US Open (Connors defeated Borg in SFs; Vilas also made SFs; Ashe lost 4th round); and Ilie Nastase won the Masters over Borg and Vilas (Borg beat Ashe in SFs; Orantes lost in round robin; Connors absent). Ashe won 9 tournaments (out of 29) including the WCT Finals over Borg (Connors, Vilas and Orantes ineligible and mostly did not play the WCT circuit), 2 top-tier ("AA") Grand Prix titles (out of 10 entered) and 4 of his 9 WCT group events. Ashe was 97–18 including 4–3 vs. Borg, 1–1 vs. Vilas and 1–2 vs. Orantes. Borg beat Vilas (was 3–1 vs. Vilas on the year) to win both the French Open (Orantes lost 1st round; Ashe and Connors absent) and the U.S. Pro AA Grand Prix event, won 1 "A" Grand Prix event, and won 2 of his 9 WCT group events for a 77–17 record. Connors also made the finals of the Australian Open losing to John Newcombe (they were the only top 10 players competing) and won 9 tournaments, none of them AA Grand Prix events (he only entered 2 of those beating Borg a 2nd time in the SFs of one) with an 82–8 record. Orantes won 8 tournaments, including 3 AA Grand Prix events, one being the US Clay Court (over Ashe), and was 87–18 (4–0 vs. Vilas and 1–0 vs. Connors). Rankings: The ATP Point System had Connors No. 1, Vilas No. 2, Borg No. 3, Ashe No. 4 and Orantes No. 5. For the first time the ATP had a "Player of the Year" award, which went to Ash; All sources ranked Ashe No. 1. Collins, Elian and Lorge ranked Borg No. 2 (Collins also had Orantes No. 3 and Connors No. 4); Tingay ranked Orantes No. 2, Connors No. 3 and Borg No. 4; Flink had Orantes No. 2, Borg No. 3 and Connors No. 4.; World Tennis and Tennis Magazine (U.S.) placed Connors No. 2, Borg No. 3 and Orantes No. 4.
1976	Jimmy Connors (USA)	Björn Borg (SWE)	Tennis Magazine (France); Tennis Magazine (U.S.), Bud Collins; Lance Tingay; John Barrett of London Financial Times; Peter Bodo; Judith Elian; Joe McCauley; ATP Awards and year-end Point System; Björn Borg won Wimbledon over Ilie Nastase (Jimmy Connors and Guillermo Vilas made QFs; Manuel Orantes absent) and Connors won the US Open over Borg and Vilas (Borg beat Nastase in SFs and Orantes in QFs). Connors won 12 tournaments, including 3 top-tier Grand Prix (GP) events of 6 entered (1 being the US Clay Court), plus the U.S. Pro Indoor over Borg and the non-tour affiliated Palm Springs (8 of top 10 players playing), defeating Borg in the SFs, compiling a 90–8 record (4–0 vs. Borg). Borg won 7 titles including 1 top-tier GP event (the U.S. Pro) of 2 entered, and the WCT Finals over Vilas (Connors, Orantes and Nastase did not play) compiling a 63–14 record. Rankings: The ATP Point System had Connors No. 1, Borg No. 2. Tennis Magazine (U.S.), Collins, Tingay, Barrett, Bodo, McCauley and Elian all ranked Connors No. 1 and Borg No. 2; a minority of journalists ranked Borg No. 1, among them Tennis Magazine (France), and the ATP itself awarded Borg "Player of The Year" contradicting its point system for reasons unclear.
1977	Björn Borg (SWE) chosen by majority of sources in 1978  Guillermo Vilas (ARG) chosen by about half of sources by the 2010s	both ranked equally	Numerous sources (see bottom) Björn Borg won Wimbledon over Jimmy Connors and Vitas Gerulaitis (Guillermo Vilas lost in 3rd round) while Vilas won the US Open over Connors (Borg and Gerulaitis lost 4th round, Borg retiring due to injury) and a partially depleted French Open over Brian Gottfried (Borg and Connors played World Team Tennis; Gerulaitis and 2 further top 10 players absent). Borg won 13 of 20 tournaments for an 81–7 match record, including 3–0 vs. Vilas (a 4th match between them in the final of the Johannesburg Open, a top-tier event, was cancelled) and 2–1 vs. Connors. Vilas won 17 out of 32 tournaments for a 145–14 record (including 4-match non-ATP title at Rye, New York and 6–0 in the Davis Cup), plus won 50 matches in a row, although some events had no top-10-ranked players; for the year Borg was 16–3 vs. Top 10 players; Vilas 13–6. Vilas was 2–0 vs. Connors and made the finals of the January Australian Open (he was the only top 10 player who entered) losing to Roscoe Tanner. Rankings: The official year-end ATP Point Rankings (based on the average to points obtained per ATP tournaments played) had Vilas No. 2, Borg No. 3. Tennis Magazine (France), Tennis Magazine (U.S.),[117] John Barrett, Barry Lorge,[118] Bud Collins,[119] Lance Tingay, Rino Tommasi of Tennis Club Magazine (Rome), Judith Elian and Rod Laver[120] rated Borg No. 1. The members of the ATP voted Borg "Player of the Year".[121] World Tennis, France Presse,[122] Tennis de France, and Le Livre d'or du Tennis by Christian Collin and Bernard Ficot[123] ranked Vilas No. 1. Gene Scott and Peter Bodo also considered Vilas No.1[124][125] Christian Quidet in La fabuleuse histoire du Tennis (1984)[full citation needed] and Michael Sutter in Vainquiers 1946–1991 ranked Vilas No. 1. By the 2010s Collins and Barrett were quoted saying Vilas deserved No. 1[126][127][128] and the International Tennis Hall of Fame inscription for Vilas stated "it was generally considered Vilas was the real No. 1 for 1977".[129] In a 2016 study John Burn-Murdoch of the Financial Times rated a virtual tie between Vilas and Borg.
1978	Björn Borg (SWE)	Jimmy Connors (USA)	Tennis Magazine (France); World Tennis; Tennis Magazine (U.S.); Bud Collins; ITF (International Tennis Federation); ATP Point Rankings and Awards; Björn Borg won Wimbledon, defeating Jimmy Connors, and the French Open (Connors absent, but 7 top 10 players participated). Connors won the first hard-court US Open defeating Borg. Borg won 9 titles out of 17 ATP events entered compiling a 70–7 ATP record; he also won 9 additional titles in 10 special or invitational tournaments (draws of 4 to 16 players) plus was 9–0 in the Davis Cup. Connors won 10 titles, including the US Pro Indoor (most top players present), in 16 ATP events entered for a 66–6 record, plus won 4 titles in special or invitational events. Borg had an 18–3 record versus top 10 players (defeated 7 more at special events) while Connors was 14–3 versus top 10 players. Borg was 3–2 vs. Connors (including 1–1 at special events). Rankings: The year-end ATP Point Rankings were Connors No. 1, Borg. No. 2; the ATP named Borg "Player of the Year"; the ITF named Borg as their first World Champion; Tennis Magazine (France) and World Tennis ranked Borg No. 1 and Connors No. 2. as did Bud Collins; Tennis Magazine (U.S.) ranked Connors No. 1, Borg. No. 2.
1979	Björn Borg (SWE)	John McEnroe (USA)	Tennis Magazine (France); Tennis Magazine (U.S.); Bud Collins; ITF; ATP Awards and Point Rankings; Björn Borg won 3 of the 4 most important events: Wimbledon defeating Jimmy Connors in SFs (John McEnroe lost 4th round); the French (Connors lost SFs; McEnroe absent but 8 of the top 10 players participated); and the Masters defeating McEnroe in SFs (Connors lost in SFs). McEnroe won the U.S. Open defeating Connors in SFs (Borg lost QFs), and the WCT Finals defeating Borg and Connors (SFs). Borg won 4 of the 5 Super Series events he played and 13 titles out of 20 tournaments for an 84–6 record. McEnroe won 2 of 6 Super Series he played for 10 titles total with a 91–14 record, including 8–0 in the Davis Cup. Borg was 4–0 vs. Connors and 4–2 vs. McEnroe while McEnroe-Connors were 2–2. Rankings: The ATP year-end point rankings had Borg. No. 1, McEnroe No. 3. The ITF named Borg World Champion;[130] the ATP named Borg "Player of The Year"; Tennis Magazine (U.S.), Tennis Magazine (France) and Bud Collins ranked Borg No. 1, McEnroe No. 2.
1980	Björn Borg (SWE)	John McEnroe (USA)	Tennis Magazine (France); Tennis Magazine (U.S.); Bud Collins; ITF; ATP Awards and year-end point rankings; Björn Borg won 3 of the 4 most important tournaments and lost in 5 sets in the finals of the 4th, the U.S. Open. At Wimbledon he defeated John McEnroe (who beat Jimmy Connors in the SFs); at the Masters he defeated Connors (SFs) (McEnroe was 0–3); and he won the French (Connors lost SFs; McEnroe lost 3rd round). Borg also won 3 of the 5 Super Series events he entered and 9 titles in total in 14 events for a 70–6 record. McEnroe won the U.S. Open over Borg and Connors (SFs), 2 of the 8 Super Series he entered (including the U.S. Indoor over Connors) and 9 titles in total for an 84–18 record. Borg was 3–1 vs. McEnroe. Rankings: The year-end ATP Point Rankings had Borg. No. 1, McEnroe No. 2.[131] The ITF awarded Borg as World Champion; the ATP awarded Borg "Player of The Year"; Tennis Magazine (U.S.), Tennis Magazine (France) and Collins ranked Borg. No. 1 and McEnroe No. 2.
1981	John McEnroe (USA)	Björn Borg (SWE)	World Tennis; Tennis Magazine (France); Tennis Magazine (U.S.); Bud Collins; ITF; ATP Awards and Point Rankings; John McEnroe won Wimbledon and the U.S. Open defeating Björn Borg in the finals of both after Borg defeated Jimmy Connors in the SFs of both. Borg captured the French Open defeating Lendl (McEnroe and Connors lost QFs). McEnroe also won the depleted WCT Finals, with none of the year's other top 5, plus 2 of the 5 Super Series tournaments he entered for 10 titles with a 76–10 record, including 7–1 in the Davis Cup. McEnroe was 4–0 vs. Borg (including an invitational event), 1–1 vs. Connors, but 0–3 vs. Lendl. Borg played a reduced schedule winning 3 titles in the 9 events with a 35–6 record (2–0 vs. both Lendl and Connors) and semi-retired in October. Rankings: The ITF named McEnroe as World Champion;[132] the ATP awarded McEnroe "Player of The Year" and he was ranked No. 1 at year-end with Borg No. 4;[133] World Tennis ranked McEnroe No.1, Borg No.2.[134] Tennis Magazine (U.S.) and Bud Collins ranked McEnroe No. 1, Borg No. 2; Tennis Magazine (France) concurred with the top 2.
1982	Jimmy Connors (USA)	Ivan Lendl (TCH)	L'Équipe; Tennis Magazine (France); Tennis Magazine (U.S.); Bud Collins; ITF; ATP Awards and ATP year-end point rankings; Jimmy Connors won both Wimbledon, defeating John McEnroe (Ivan Lendl and Guillermo Vilas absent), and the US Open, defeated Lendl and Vilas (Lendl beat McEnroe in SFs). Lendl won both the Masters (first year of 12-player knock-out format) over McEnroe and Connors (McEnroe defeated Vilas in SFs) and the WCT Finals, beating McEnroe (only 1 other top 10 player present). Connors won 7 out of 18 tournaments, but did not win a Grand Prix Super Series out of 4 entered, compiling a 78–10 record. Lendl won 15 out of 23 events (although 8 were WCT events, most with no top 10 players entered) including 2 of the 4 Super Series he played (one being Cincinnati with 6 of the top 10), for a 106–9 record. Connors was 1–2 vs. Lendl and 2–2 vs. McEnroe with Lendl 4–1 vs. McEnroe. Rankings: The year-end ATP Point Rankings had Connors No. 2, Lendl No. 3.[135] The ITF named Connors World Champion; the ATP awarded Connors "Player of The Year" contradicting its point ranking; L'Équipe, Tennis Magazine (France) and Collins all ranked Connors No. 1, Lendl No. 2; Tennis Magazine (U.S.) concurred.
1983	John McEnroe (USA)	Mats Wilander (SWE)	Tennis Magazine (France); Tennis Magazine (U.S.); Bud Collins; ITF; ATP Awards and year-end point rankings; John McEnroe won Wimbledon defeating Ivan Lendl in the SFs (Jimmy Connors lost 4th round; Mats Wilander 3rd round) and the Masters (knock-out format) defeated Lendl and Wilander (Lendl beat Jimmy Connors in SFs) to claim the ATP No. 1 Ranking. Wilander lost to Yannick Noah in the French Open. For the first time since 1971 the Australian Open featured top-ranked players (but only 3 of the top 10) as Wilander defeated Lendl and McEnroe to capture the title. In the depleted WCT Finals McEnroe beat Lendl (other top 5 absent). Of the Grand Prix Super Series, McEnroe won 3 of 6 entered, including the U.S. Pro Indoor, again over Lendl, while Wilander won 2 of 6, including Monte Carlo (with 6 of top 10 playing) and Cincinnati (7 of top 10), over McEnroe. McEnroe was 63–11 with 7 titles and 2 titles in non-ATP events and was 5–2 vs Lendl, but 1–3 vs Wilander. Wilander won 9 titles in total with an 82–11 record, including 8–0 in the Davis Cup. Rankings: The ATP Point Rankings had McEnroe No. 1, Wilander No. 4; the ITF awarded McEnroe as World Champion; the ATP awarded McEnroe "Player of The Year"; All sources ranked McEnroe No. 1. Tennis Magazine (France) had Wilander No. 2; Collins agreed; Tennis Magazine (U.S.) Wilander No. 4.
1984	John McEnroe (USA)	Ivan Lendl (TCH)	Tennis Magazine (France); Bud Collins; ITF; ATP Awards and year-end point rankings; John McEnroe lost only 3 matches (82 wins) and won 3 of the 4 most important tournaments losing in 5 sets in the finals of the 4th, the French Open. At Wimbledon he defeated Ivan Lendl after defeated Mats Wilander in the SFs (Lendl defeated Jimmy Connors in SFs); at the US Open he defeated Lendl and Connors (Wilander lost QFs); and at the Masters (12-player knock-out format) he again defeated Lendl after they beat Wilander and Connors, respectively, in the SFs. At the French Open Lendl came from down 2 sets to defeated McEnroe after they defeated Wilander and Connors in the SFs. McEnroe missed the Australian Open with a wrist injury (Lendl lost 4th round; Connors absent; 3 of the top 10 players played). McEnroe also won a depleted WCT Finals over Connors (Lendl and Wilander absent). McEnroe won 13 events (8 indoors, 2 grass, 2 hard, 1 clay) of 15, including 4 of the 5 Super Series he played including the U.S. Pro Indoor over Lendl and the Canadian Open (which had 6 and 7 of the top 10). McEnroe was 5–1 vs Lendl, 6–0 vs Connors and 3–0 vs Wilander, plus 7–1 in the Davis Cup, his loss coming in the finals as Sweden won the Cup. Lendl won 3 events, including 1 of 6 Super Series, and was a finalist in 8 with a 62–16 record. Rankings: The ATP Rankings had McEnroe No. 1, Lendl No. 3; the ITF awarded McEnroe as World Champion; the ATP awarded McEnroe "Player of The Year"; Tennis Magazine (France) and Bud Collins ranked McEnroe No. 1 and Lendl No. 2.
1985	Ivan Lendl (TCH)	Mats Wilander (SWE)	Tennis Magazine (France); Bud Collins; ITF; ATP Awards and year-end point rankings; Ivan Lendl won the US Open over John McEnroe and Jimmy Connors (Mats Wilander lost SFs) and the 16-player knockout Masters over Boris Becker (Wilander lost QFs; McEnroe 1st round; Connors absent). Wilander beat Lendl and McEnroe at the French Open (Lendl beat Connors in SFs). Lendl also won the WCT Finals defeated Connors in the SFs (McEnroe and Wilander lost QFs) and won 5 of the 7 Super Series tournaments he entered, including the Tokyo Indoor(with 7 of the top 10) over Wilander. Lendl won 11 of the 17 events he entered with an 84–7 record overall, including 3–2 vs McEnroe and 3–1 vs Wilander. Wilander won 3 titles (0 of 7 Super Series) but was a finalist in 10 events compiling a 69–21 record. Rankings: The ATP Rankings had Lendl No. 1, Wilander No. 3; The ITF awarded Lendl as World Champion; the ATP awarded Lendl "Player of The Year"; Tennis Magazine (France) ranked Lendl No. 1 and Wilander No. 2 but Collins ranked Wilander No. 3.
1986	Ivan Lendl (TCH)	Boris Becker (GER)	Tennis Magazine (France); Bud Collins; ITF; ATP Awards and year-end point rankings; Ivan Lendl won 3 of the 4 most important tournaments of the year, but lost in the finals of the 4th, Wimbledon. Lendl won the US Open over Miloslav Mečíř and Stefan Edberg, with Mecir beating Boris Becker (SF); the French Open defeating Mikael Pernfors, who defeated Becker in the QFs; and the Masters defeated Becker and Wilander (event returned to 8-player round robin). Becker won Wimbledon defeated Lendl with Wilander losing in the 4th round. There was no Australian Open that year as it was switching to January from December. Lendl defeated Wilander to win the Lipton International (with 9 of the top 10 players present), this year upgraded to a Super Series event with a 128-player draw considered to be the "5th Grand Slam" (was worth more ATP points than the Australian Open this year through 1989). Lendl won 2 other Super Series (of 7 entered), the U.S. Pro Indoor (6 of the top 10 present in its last year as a Super Series) and the Italian Open (8 of top 10 present) and finished the year with 9 titles and a 74–6 record, but only 2–3 vs Becker. Becker won 3 of 7 Super Series, including the Canadian Open (6 of the top 10), for 6 titles altogether and a 69–13 record. Rankings: The ATP Point Rankings were Lendl No. 1, Becker No. 2. Lendl was named World Champion by the ITF and "Player of The Year" by the ATP; Tennis Magazine (France) ranked Lendl No. 1 and Becker No. 2 which Collins confirmed.
1987	Ivan Lendl (TCH)	No consensus among the sources:  Stefan Edberg (SWE)  Mats Wilander (SWE)	Bud Collins; ITF; ATP Awards and year-end point rankings; Lendl won the US Open, the French Open and the Masters, each time defeating Mats Wilander in the finals; Wilander defeated Boris Becker in the SFs of the French Open and Stefan Edberg in the SFs of the other two (Edberg lost 2nd round of French). Lendl lost to Pat Cash in the finals of Wimbledon after Lendl defeated Edberg in the QFs (Wilander also lost QFs). Edberg won the last grass-court Australian Open, with 6 of the top 10 players present, over Cash, who defeated Lendl in the SFs (Wilander absent). Lendl also won 3 of the 5 Super Series tournaments he entered for 8 titles in total for a 74–7 record, including 2–1 vs Edberg and 3–0 vs Wilander. Edberg won 3 Super Series out of 7 for 7 titles total with a 78–12 record with a 2–2 split against Wilander. Wilander won 2 of 6 Super Series, including the Italian Open and Monte Carlo (both 8 of top 10) with 5 titles total with a 71–18 record. Rankings The ATP Point Rankings had Lendl No. 1, Edberg No. 2, Wilander No. 3; the ITF awarded Lendl as World Champion;[136] the ATP awarded Lendl "Player of The Year"; Collins ranked Lendl. No. 1, Wilander No. 2, Edberg No. 3.
1988	Mats Wilander (SWE)	Ivan Lendl (TCH)	Tennis Magazine (France); Bud Collins, ITF; ATP Awards and year-end point rankings; Mats Wilander captured 3 Grand Slam titles: the first hard-court Australian Open over Pat Cash (6 of the top 10 players present); the French Open defeating Henri Leconte and Andre Agassi (Lendl lost QFs); and, the US Open defeated Lendl 6–4 in the 5th set, an exact reversal of their final from the previous year, after Lendl defeated Agassi in the SFs. Wilander also won 2 Super Series of 6 played, including the Lipton International over Jimmy Connors, and 6 titles total with a 53–11 record. Lendl won 3 Super Series out of 3, including the Canadian Open (6 of the top 10) and the Italian Open, for a 41–8 record only playing 10 events. Rankings: The ATP Point Rankings had Wilander No. 1, Lendl No. 2. The ITF awarded Wilander as World Champion; the ATP awarded Wilander "Player of The Year"; Tennis Magazine (France) ranked Wilander No. 1 and Lendl No. 2.
1989	Boris Becker (GER)	Ivan Lendl (TCH)	Tennis Magazine (France); Bud Collins; ITF; ATP Awards and year-end point rankings; Boris Becker won Wimbledon over Stefan Edberg and Ivan Lendl (SFs) and the US Open over Lendl (Edberg lost 4th round). Lendl won the Australian Open (was worth 260 ATP points compared to 380 or 400 for the other 3 Grand Slams; 6 of the top 10 players were present) while Becker lost in the 4th round and Edberg lost in the QFs. Becker won 3 other titles (in 13 events), including 1 Super Series of 5, the Paris Indoor (7 of the top 10) over Edberg, compiling a 64–8 record including 4–2 vs. Edberg. Becker was also undefeated in 7 Davis Cup matches beating Andre Agassi, Mats Wilander and Edberg as West Germany won for the 2nd straight year. Lendl also won 4 Super Series of 4, including the Lipton International, Stockholm and the German Open (all had 6 of top 10), and 5 other titles for a 79–7 match record, but was 0–2 vs. Becker. Rankings: The ATP's year-end point rankings ranked Lendl No. 1, Becker No. 2. The ITF named Becker its World Champion; the ATP awarded Becker "Player of The Year"; Tennis Magazine (France) ranked Becker No. 1 and Lendl No. 2; Collins agreed and had Nos. 3 to 5 the same as ATP Rankings.
1990	Stefan Edberg (SWE)	No consensus among the sources:  Ivan Lendl (TCH)  Andre Agassi (USA)	Tennis Magazine (France); ITF; ATP Awards and year-end point rankings; For the first time since 1977, no player won more than one of the 5 most important tournaments of the year. Stefan Edberg defeated Boris Becker and Ivan Lendl at Wimbledon. Edberg also won 3 of the 7 Championship Series events (the former Super Series) he played, including Indian Wells and the Paris Indoor (both with 8 of the top 10 players playing). Edberg lost the final of the Australian Open to Lendl retiring in the 3rd set due to injury (the event had the top 4 and 5 of the top 10 players; its ATP points were increased to be 360 vs 400 for other Grand Slams). Agassi defeated Edberg to win the year-ending ATP World Tour Championship (renamed from the "Masters"; points were now awarded for it in the ATP Point Rankings), after they defeated Becker and Lendl in the SFs, and beat Edberg again to win the Lipton International (his only Champ Series win of 6). Edberg won 7 titles from 12 finals for a 70–15 record, while Agassi won 4 titles for a 45–12 record and was absent from the Australian Open and Wimbledon. Becker was 71–15 with 5 titles from 10 finals including 1 Champ Series of 7 (Stockholm, with 7 of top 10) and Lendl was 54–12 with 5 titles winning no Champ Series of 3. The top 4 had close records against each other except Agassi was 3–0 vs Becker. Rankings: The ATP Point Rankings had Edberg No. 1, Lendl No. 3, Agassi No. 4,. The ITF designated Lendl as World Champion[137] – a decision strongly criticized[citation needed]; the ATP awarded Edberg "Player of The Year"; Tennis Magazine (France) ranked Edberg No. 1, Agassi No. 2 and Lendl No. 3.
1991	Stefan Edberg (SWE)	Jim Courier (USA)	Tennis Magazine (France); ITF; ATP awards and year-end point rankings. For the 2nd consecutive year, no player won more than 1 of the 5 most important tournaments. Jim Courier did win the French Open, defeating Andre Agassi, Michael Stich and Stefan Edberg (QFs), in succession (Agassi beat Boris Becker in the SFs), and 2 of the top Championship Series events; the Lipton International and Indian Wells, his only victories of the year. Stefan Edberg won the US Open defeated Courier, after they defeated Ivan Lendl and 39-year-old Jimmy Connors in the SFs (Becker lost 3rd round). Rankings: The ATP's Point Rankings were Edberg first, Courier second. The ITF named Edberg as its World Champion.[138] The members of the ATP voted Edberg "Player of The Year." Tennis Magazine (France) ranked Edberg first and Courier second.
1992	Jim Courier (USA)	Stefan Edberg (SWE)	Tennis Magazine (France); ITF; ATP Awards and year-end point rankings. Jim Courier won both the Australian Open (with 8 of the top 10 playing), defeating Stefan Edberg in the final, and the French Open, defeated Petr Korda and Andre Agassi (Pete Sampras lost QFs and Edberg 3rd round). Andre Agassi won Wimbledon defeated Goran Ivanišević (Sampras and Edberg lost QFs; Courier lost 3rd round). Edberg won the US Open defeated Pete Sampras, after they defeated Michael Chang and Courier in the SFs. Boris Becker won the year-ending ATP Tour World Championship defeated Courier in the final after they defeated Ivanisevic and Sampras in the SFs. Courier (the Italian Open), Edberg, Sampras (Cincinnati with 8 of the top 10), Edberg won 3 titles total. Courier was 69–18 (including 1–0 vs Edberg and 1–2 vs Sampras), while Edberg was 68–24 (1–2 vs Sampras). Rankings: The ATP Point Rankings were Courier first, Edberg second; ITF named Courier as its World Champion. The members of the ATP voted Courier "Player of The Year." Tennis Magazine (France) ranked Courier first.
1993	Pete Sampras (USA)	No consensus among the sources:  Jim Courier (USA)  Michael Stich (GER)	Tennis Magazine (France); ITF; ATP Awards and year-end point rankings. Pete Sampras won Wimbledon (defeating Jim Courier in the final, who defeated Stefan Edberg in the SFs; Michael Stich lost 4th round), the US Open (defeated Cédric Pioline; Courier and Stich lost in 4th and 1st rounds), and the Lipton International (his only Championship Series win). Sergi Bruguera won the French Open, defeated Courier in the final and Sampras in the QFs (Stich lost 4th round), and 5 titles including 1 Champ Series. Courier won the Australian Open (all of the top 10 players were to play but 2 withdrew with injury) defeated Stefan Edberg (who defeated Sampras in the QFs) and Michael Stich in the SFs, plus 2 Champ Series (the Italian Open and Indian Wells). Stich won the ATP Tour World Championship defeated Sampras in the final and Courier in the round robin (Courier and Bruguera eliminated in round robin) and 2 Champ Series (one being Stockholm with 8 of the top 10). Sampras was 85–16 with 8 titles from 23 events and was 2–0 vs. Courier and 1–1 vs. Stich. Stich won 6 titles, was 76–22 and 1–1 vs. Courier. Courier won 5 titles with a 58–17 record. Rankings: The ITF named Sampras as its World Champion; The members of the ATP voted Sampras "Player of The Year;" Tennis Magazine (France) ranked Sampras first and Courier second; In the ATP's rankings, Sampras finished first, Stich second, Courier third.
1994	Pete Sampras (USA)	Andre Agassi (USA)	Tennis Magazine (France); ITF; ATP Awards and year-end point rankings. Pete Sampras won 4 of the 6 most important tournaments of the year: Australian Open defeating Todd Martin (had 7 of the top 10 players; Boris Becker and Andre Agassi absent); Wimbledon defeated Goran Ivanišević, who defeated Becker in the SFs (Agassi lost 4th round); the ATP Tour World Championship defeated Becker (after they defeated Agassi and Bruguera in the SFs); and, the Lipton International Championship Series defeated Agassi. Agassi won the US Open defeated Michael Stich (Sampras lost 4th round; Becker 1st round). Sampras won 2 more Champ Series out of 5 played (the Italian Open and Indian Wells both with 8 of the top 10) for 10 titles in total for a 77–12 record (3–1 vs Agassi and 1–2 vs Becker). Agassi won 2 of 7 Champ Series, including the Paris Indoor (9 of top 10), and 5 titles total for a 52–14 record, including 1–0 vs Becker. Rankings: The ITF's World Champion and the ATP's "Player of the Year" was Sampras. Tennis Magazine (France) ranked Sampras first and Agassi second. In the ATP's Point Rankings, Sampras finished first, Agassi second.
1995	Pete Sampras (USA)	Andre Agassi (USA)	Tennis Magazine (France); ITF; ATP Awards and year-end point rankings. Pete Sampras won Wimbledon defeating Boris Becker, who defeated Andre Agassi in the SFs (Thomas Muster absent), and the US Open defeated Agassi, who defeated Becker in the SFs (Muster lost 4th round). Agassi won the Australian Open defeated Sampras (Muster lost 3rd round and Becker 1st round)(from this year forward it usually had as many of the top 10 players play as the other Grand Slams). Sampras also won 2 of 9 Championship Series tournaments played and a total of 5 titles from 9 finals (out of 21 events) for a 72–16 record (2–3 vs Agassi, 3–0 vs Becker and 0–1 vs Muster). Agassi also won 3 of 6 Champ Series, including the Lipton International defeated Sampras (all the other Champ Series had at least 8 of the top 10 players participate), for 7 titles out of 16 events for a 73–9 record. Rankings: The ITF named Sampras as its World Champion. The members of the ATP voted Sampras "Player of The Year." Tennis Magazine (France) ranked Sampras first and Agassi second. In the ATP's year-end point rankings, Sampras finished first, Agassi second.
1996	Pete Sampras (USA)	Michael Chang (USA)	ITF; ATP Awards and year-end point rankings. Pete Sampras won the US Open, defeating Michael Chang and Goran Ivanisevic (SFs), and the ATP World Tour Championship defeated Boris Becker (a reverse of their round robin match) after they defeated Ivanisevic and Richard Krajicek in the SFs. Sampras did not win any Super Nine events. Sampras won 8 titles for a 65–11 record including 3–0 vs Chang, 2–2 vs Kafelnikov and 2–2 vs Ivanisevic. Chang won 1 Super Nine and 2 other titles with a 65–19 record (1–2 vs Ivanisevic but did not play Kafelnikov). Rankings: The ITF World Champion and the ATP "Player of the Year" was Sampras.[139] In the ATP's year-end rankings, Sampras finished first and Chang tied Kafelnikov and Ivanisevic for second, third and fourth.
1997	Pete Sampras (USA)	Patrick Rafter (AUS)	ITF; ATP Awards and year-end point rankings. Pete Sampras won Wimbledon (defeating Cédric Pioline in the final), the Australian Open (defeated Carlos Moyà in the final, who defeated Michael Chang in the SFs) and the year-ending ATP Tour World Championship (defeated Yevgeny Kafelnikov in the final and Jonas Bjorkman in the SFs). Patrick Rafter won the US Open, his only title of the year, defeated Greg Rusedski in the final after they defeated Chang and Bjorkman in the SFs (Sampras lost 4th round). Sampras also won 2 Super Nine events and 8 titles in total for a 55–12 record, including 5–0 vs Rafter. Rafter finished 65–29 and was the runner-up in 7 tournaments.Rankings: The ITF named Sampras as its World Champion. The members of the ATP voted Sampras "Player of The Year." In the ATP's year-end rankings, Sampras finished first, Rafter second.
1998	Pete Sampras (USA)	No consensus among sources:  Marcelo Ríos (CHI)  Patrick Rafter (AUS)	Tennis Magazine (U.S.); ITF; ATP Awards and year-end point rankings. For the 1st year since 1991, no player won more than 1 of the 5 most important tournaments. Pete Sampras won Wimbledon over Goran Ivanišević, plus 3 other titles, none of them a Super Nine. Patrick Rafter won the US Open defeating Mark Philippoussis and Sampras (SFs) plus won the preceding 2 Super Nines (Canada and Cincinnati, beating 5 top 10 players) and 3 other titles, but did not advance past the 4th round in any other Grand Slam. Rios won 3 Super Nines, including the Lipton International and Indian Wells, and 4 other titles but withdrew from the Tour Championship after 1 match with an injury. Sampras was 61–17 (did not play Rios); Rafter 60–21 (2–0 vs Sampras, did not play Rios or Corretja); Rios 68–17 (did not play Corretja). Rankings: The ITF named Sampras as its World Champion. The members of the ATP voted Sampras "Player of the Year". Tennis Magazine (U.S.), however, ranked Rafter first. In the ATP's year-ending rankings, Sampras finished first, Rios second, Rafter fourth.
1999	Andre Agassi (USA)	No consensus among the sources:  Pete Sampras (USA)  Yevgeny Kafelnikov (RUS)	Tennis Magazine (France); ITF; ATP Awards and year-end point rankings. Andre Agassi won the French Open (defeating Andrei Medvedev in the final), the US Open (defeated Todd Martin in the final), a Super Nine event and 2 other titles for a 63–14 record. Pete Sampras won Wimbledon and the year-ending ATP Tour World Championship (defeated Agassi in both finals), won a Super Nine, but lost in the 2nd round of the French and was absent from the Australian Open and the US Open, the latter due to injury, only playing in 13 events. Sampras was 40–8 with 5 titles and was 4–1 vs. Agassi. Yevgeny Kafelnikov won the Australian Open (defeated Thomas Enqvist in the final; Agassi lost in 4th round), won a Super Nine, and made the SFs of the US Open and the ATP Tour Championships plus won 2 other titles for a 61–32 record (1–3 vs Agassi and did not play Sampras). Rankings: The ITF named Agassi as its World Champion. The members of the ATP voted Agassi "Player of The Year." Tennis Magazine (France) ranked Agassi No. 1, Sampras No. 2 and Kafelnikov No. 3. In the ATP's year-ending rankings, Agassi was No. 1, Kafelnikov No. 2, Sampras No. 3.
2000	Gustavo Kuerten (BRA)	Marat Safin (RUS)	Tennis Magazine (France); International Tennis Federation (ITF); Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) awards and year-end rankings. Gustavo Kuerten won the French Open (defeating Magnus Norman in the final), the year-ending Tennis Masters Cup, renamed from ATP Tour World Championship (defeated Andre Agassi in the final, a win that enabled him to pass Marat Safin for the ATP's No. 1 ranking, 4195 points to 4120), and 3 other titles, including a Masters (renamed from Super Nine). Safin won the US Open (defeated Pete Sampras in the final) and 6 other titles, including 2 Masters. Kuerten was 63–22, including 2–0 vs Safin and 1–1 vs Sampras; Safin was 73–27, including 2–1 vs Sampras. Rankings: The ITF named Kuerten World Champion. The members of the ATP voted Kuerten "Player of The Year." The ATP's rankings were Kuerten No. 1, Safin No. 2. "Tennis Magazine" (France) confirmed the ATP's top 3.
2001	Lleyton Hewitt (AUS)	Gustavo Kuerten (BRA)	Tennis Magazine (France); ITF; ATP awards and year-end rankings. Lleyton Hewitt won the US Open (defeated Pete Sampras in the final) and the year-ending Tennis Masters Cup (defeated Sébastien Grosjean in the final) as well as 4 other titles but no Masters, but did make the SFs of 5 of those. Gustavo Kuerten won the French Open (defeated Àlex Corretja in the final) and 5 other titles including 2 Masters. Hewitt was 80–18, including 1–0 vs Kuerten and 1–1 vs Agassi; Kuerten 60–18 including 0–1 vs Agassi Rankings: The ITF named Hewitt as its World Champion. The members of the ATP voted Hewitt "Player of The Year." The ATP year-end rankings were Hewitt No. 1, Kuerten No. 2 Tennis Magazine (France) confirmed the ATP's top 3.
2002	Lleyton Hewitt (AUS)	Andre Agassi (USA)	Tennis Magazine (France); ITF; ATP awards and year-end rankings. Lleyton Hewitt won Wimbledon (defeated David Nalbandian in the final), the Tennis Masters Cup (defeated Juan Carlos Ferrero in the final; Marat Safin was 0–3 and Andre Agassi was injured), 1 Masters tournament and 2 other titles. Hewitt made SFs) his 14th Grand Slam singles title and only title of the year. Agassi won 3 Masters. Hewitt was 61–15 (2–1 vs Agassi); Agassi 53–12. Rankings: The ITF named Hewitt as its World Champion. The members of the ATP voted Hewitt "Player of The Year." The year-end ATP rankings were Hewitt No. 1, Agassi No. 2. Tennis Magazine (France) confirmed the ATP's top 3.
2003	Andy Roddick (USA)	No consensus among the sources:  Juan Carlos Ferrero (ESP)  Roger Federer (SUI)	Tennis Magazine (France); ITF; ATP awards and year-end rankings. Andy Roddick won the US Open (defeated Juan Carlos Ferrero in the final), 2 Masters and 3 other titles. Roger Federer won Wimbledon (defeated Mark Philippoussis in the final and Roddick in SFs), the Tennis Masters Cup (defeated Andre Agassi in the final and Roddick in the SFs; Ferrero was 0–3) and 3 other titles but did not reach the QFs of any other Grand Slam tournaments or win a Masters. Ferrero won the French Open (defeated Martin Verkerk in the final) plus 2 Masters and 1 other title. Roddick was 72–19; Federer 78–17 and Ferrero 67–21. Rankings: The ITF named Roddick as its World Champion. The members of the ATP voted Roddick "Player of The Year." Tennis Magazine (France) ranked Roddick No. 1, Ferrero No. 2, and Federer No. 4. In the ATP's year-end rankings, Roddick was No. 1, Federer No. 2, Ferrero No. 3.
2004	Roger Federer (SUI)	No consensus among the sources:  Lleyton Hewitt (AUS)  Andy Roddick (USA)	Tennis Magazine (France); ITF; ATP Awards and year-end rankings. Roger Federer won 3 Grand Slam singles titles: the Australian Open (defeated Marat Safin in the final; Andy Roddick made SFs), Wimbledon (defeated Roddick in the final) and the US Open (defeated Lleyton Hewitt in the final). Federer also won the Tennis Masters Cup (defeated Hewitt in the final; Roddick and Safin made SFs). Federer also won 3 Masters and 11 titles total compiling a 74–6 record, including 3–0 vs Roddick, 6–0 vs Hewitt and 3–0 vs Safin. Roddick won a Masters while Hewitt won none with both winning 4 titles. Rankings: The ITF named Federer as its World Champion. The members of the ATP voted Federer "Player of The Year." Tennis Magazine (France) ranked Federer No. 1, Hewitt No. 2 and Roddick No. 3. In the ATP's rankings, Federer finished No. 1, Roddick No. 2, Hewitt No. 3.
2005	Roger Federer (SUI)	Rafael Nadal (ESP)	Tennis Magazine (France); ITF; ATP awards and year-end rankings. Roger Federer reached all 4 Grand Slam semi-finals winning Wimbledon (defeated Andy Roddick in the final) and the US Open (defeated Andre Agassi in the final). Rafael Nadal won the French Open (defeated Mariano Puerta in the final) but lost before the 4th round in the other 3 Grand Slam events. Federer won 4 of the 5 Masters events he entered; Nadal won 4 of 8. Federer was 81–4 winning 11 titles. Nadal also won 11 tournaments and was 79–10. Federer was 1–1 vs Nadal, 2–0 vs Roddick and 3–0 vs Hewitt. Rankings: The ITF named Federer as its World Champion. The members of the ATP voted Federer "Player of The Year." Tennis Magazine (France) ranked Federer No. 1, Nadal No. 2. In the ATP's year-end rankings, Federer finished No. 1, Nadal No. 2.
2006	Roger Federer (SUI)	Rafael Nadal (ESP)	Tennis Magazine (France); ITF; ATP year-end rankings. Roger Federer won 3 Grand Slam singles titles and made the finals of all 4. He won the Australian Open (defeated Marcos Baghdatis in the final; Nadal was absent), Wimbledon (defeated Rafael Nadal in the final), and the US Open (defeated Andy Roddick in the final; Nadal made SFs). Federer also won the Tennis Masters Cup (defeated James Blake in the final and Nadal in the SFs). Nadal won the French Open (defeated Federer in the final). Federer also won 4 Masters events (of 7 played) while Nadal won 2. Federer compiled a record of 92–5 (4 losses came in his 6 matches with Nadal) winning 12 titles and reached the finals of 16 of the 17 events he entered. Nadal won 5 titles in total for a 59–12 record. Rankings: Tennis Magazine (France) ranked Federer No. 1, Nadal No. 2,. The ITF named Federer World Champion. In the ATP's year-end rankings, Federer was No. 1, Nadal No. 2.
2007	Roger Federer (SUI)	Rafael Nadal (ESP)	Tennis Magazine (France); ITF; ATP year-end rankings. Roger Federer won 3 Grand Slam singles titles and made the finals of all 4 tournaments. He won the Australian Open (defeated Fernando González in the final; Rafael Nadal lost in QFs), Wimbledon (defeated Nadal in the final), and the US Open (defeated Novak Djokovic in the final; Nadal lost in QFs). Federer also won the year-ending Tennis Masters Cup (defeated David Ferrer in the final and Nadal in the SFs. Nadal won the French Open (defeated Federer in the final). Federer won 2 Masters events while Nadal won 3. Federer won 8 titles total with a 68–9 record including 3–2 vs Nadal and 3–1 vs Djokovic. Nadal was 70–15 (5–2 vs Djokovic) with 6 titles Rankings: The ITF named Federer as its World Champion. Both Tennis Magazine (France) and the year-end ATP rankings had Federer No. 1, Nadal No. 2.
2008	Rafael Nadal (ESP)	Roger Federer (SUI)	Tennis Magazine (France); ITF; ATP year-end rankings. Rafael Nadal won the French Open (defeated Federer for fourth consecutive year, the last 3 in the final, and Novak Djokovic in SFs), Wimbledon (defeated Federer in the final 9–7 in the fifth set. Federer won the US Open (defeated Andy Murray after they beat Djokovic and Nadal in the SFs). Nadal won 3 Masters, Djokovic and Murray 2, Davydenko and Tsonga 1, and Federer none. Nadal won 8 titles with an 82–11 record including 4–0 vs Federer and 4–2 vs Djokovic. Federer won 4 titles with a 66–15 record including 2–1 vs Djokovic. Rankings: The ITF named Nadal as its World Champion. In the ATP's year-ending rankings, Nadal finished No. 1, Federer No. 2. Tennis Magazine (France) confirmed the top 2.
2009	Roger Federer (SUI)	Rafael Nadal (ESP)	Tennis Magazine (France); ITF; ATP year-end rankings. Roger Federer reached all 4 Grand Slam finals, winning 2: the French Open (defeated Robin Söderling and Juan Martin Del Potro in the SFs; Rafael Nadal lost in the 4th round) and Wimbledon (defeated Andy Roddick 16–14 in the 5th set of the final; Nadal was absent). Nadal won the Australian Open (defeated Federer in the final). Nadal lost in round robin). Nadal won 3 Masters 1000s, Federer, won 2. Federer was 61–12 (1–1 vs Nadal and 2–3 vs Djokovic) with 4 titles from 8 finals; Nadal 66–14 (4–3 vs Djokovic) with 5 titles; Rankings: The ITF named Federer as its World Champion. Tennis Magazine (France) ranked Federer No. 1. In the ATP's year-ending rankings, Federer was No. 1, Nadal No. 2.
2010	Rafael Nadal (ESP)	Roger Federer (SUI)	Tennis Magazine (France); International Tennis Federation (ITF); Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) year-end rankings. Rafael Nadal won 3 Grand Slam singles titles: the French Open (defeated Robin Söderling in the final; Roger Federer lost in the QFs), Wimbledon (defeated Tomáš Berdych after they beat Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic in the SFs; Federer lost in QFs;) and the US Open (defeated Djokovic in the final, who defeated Federer in the SFs). Federer won the Australian Open (defeated Murray in the final; Nadal lost in QFs) and the year-ending ATP World Tour Finals (defeated Nadal after they beat Djokovic and Murray in the SFs). Nadal won 3 Masters 1000s, Federer 1. Nadal won 7 tournaments total with a 71–10 record (1–1 vs Federer and 2–0 vs Djokovic). Federer won 5 titles with a 65–13 record (4–1 vs Djokovic). Rankings: The ITF named Nadal as its World Champion. Tennis Magazine (France) ranked Nadal No. 1. In the ATP's year-ending rankings, Nadal finished No. 1, Federer No. 2.
2011	Novak Djokovic (SRB)	Rafael Nadal (ESP)	Tennis Magazine (France); ITF; (ATP) year-end rankings. Novak Djokovic won 3 Grand Slam singles titles: the Australian Open (defeated Andy Murray in the final and Roger Federer in the SFs; Rafael Nadal lost in QFs), Wimbledon (defeated Nadal after they beat Federer and Murray in the SFs) and the US Open (defeated Nadal after they beat Federer and Murray in the SFs). Nadal won the French Open (defeated Federer after they beat Murray and Djokovic in the SFs). Djokovic won 5 Masters 1000s, a new record, 1 for Nadal , and compiled a match record of 70–6 (6–0 versus Nadal and 4–1 versus Federer) winning 10 tournaments. Nadal was 69–15 (3–1 vs Federer) with 3 titles in 10 finals. Rankings: The ITF named Djokovic World Champion. Tennis Magazine (France) ranked Djokovic No. 1. In the ATP's year-ending rankings, Djokovic finished No. 1, Nadal No. 2.
2012	Novak Djokovic (SRB)	Roger Federer (SUI)	Tennis Magazine (France); ITF; ATP year-end rankings. Novak Djokovic won the Australian Open (defeated Rafael Nadal 7–5 in the fifth set in a 5 hour 53 minute match, after they defeated Andy Murray and Roger Federer in the SFs) and the ATP World Tour Finals (defeated Federer in the final; Murray lost round robin and Nadal absent) to clinch the ATP's No. 1 ranking. Federer won Wimbledon (defeated Murray in the final and Djokovic in SFs; Nadal lost in 2nd round). Federer lost in QFs and Nadal was absent due to injury). Djokovic and Federer each won 3 Masters 1000s. Djokovic's match record was 75–12 while Federer's was 71–12 both winning 6 titles with Djokovic leading the head-to-head 3–2. Rankings: The ITF named Djokovic as its World Champion. Tennis Magazine (France) ranked Djokovic No. 1. In the ATP's year-ending rankings, Djokovic finished No. 1, Federer No. 2.
2013	Rafael Nadal (ESP)  Novak Djokovic (SRB)	ATP Champion ITF Champion	Tennis Magazine (France); ITF; ATP year-end rankings. Rafael Nadal won the French Open (defeated David Ferrer in the final and Novak Djokovic in the SFs) and the US Open (defeated Djokovic in the final). Djokovic won the Australian Open (defeated Andy Murray after they defeated Ferrer and Roger Federer in the SFs) and the ATP World Tour Finals (defeated Nadal in the final who beat Federer in the SFs; Murray was absent). Nadal won 5 Masters 1000 events versus 3 for Djokovic compiling a 75–7 record winning 10 tournaments; Djokovic had a 74–9 record winning 7 titles; they had a 3–3 record versus each other. Rankings: The ITF named Djokovic as its World Champion due to Djokovic's superior performance in ITF events compared to Nadal (Nadal missed the Australian and lost in the 1st round of Wimbledon). In the ATP's year-ending rankings, Nadal finished No. 1, Djokovic No. 2. Tennis Magazine (France) rated Nadal No. 1, Djokovic No. 2.
2014	Novak Djokovic (SRB)	Roger Federer (SUI)	Tennis Magazine (France); ITF; ATP year-end rankings. Novak Djokovic won Wimbledon (defeated Roger Federer in the final. Djokovic also won 4 Masters 1000s to 2 for Federer. Djokovic was 61–8 with 7 titles while Federer was 73–12 with 5 titles in 11 finals (Federer lead head-to-head 3–2). Rankings: The ITF named Djokovic as its World Champion. Tennis Magazine (France) ranked Djokovic No. 1. In the ATP's year-ending rankings, Djokovic finished No. 1, Federer No. 2.
2015	Novak Djokovic (SRB)	No consensus among the sources:  Andy Murray (GBR)  Roger Federer (SUI)	Tennis Magazine (France); ITF; ATP year-end rankings. Novak Djokovic made all 4 Grand Slam finals winning 3. He won the Australian Open (defeated Andy Murray in the final; Roger Federer lost in the 3rd round), Wimbledon and the US Open plus the ATP Finals (defeated Federer in the finals of all 3) but lost in the French Open final to Stan Wawrinka after beating Rafael Nadal in the QFs (Murray lost SFs and Federer lost in QFs). Djokovic won a record 6 Masters 1000s and a total of 11 events compiling record of 82–6 (6–1 vs Murray and 5–3 vs Federer) making the finals of 15 of 16 events. Federer was 63–11 with 6 titles from 11 finals (1 Masters 1000 victory) with 2–0 record vs. Murray. Murray was 74–14 with 4 titles including 2 Master 1000s. Rankings: The ITF named Djokovic World Champion. In the ATP's rankings, Djokovic was No. 1, Murray No. 2, Federer No. 3. Tennis Magazine (France) rated Djokovic No. 1, Federer No. 2, Murray No. 3.
2016	Andy Murray (GBR)	Novak Djokovic (SRB)	ITF; ATP year-end rankings. By winning the Australian Open and the French Open (defeated Andy Murray in both finals and Roger Federer in the Australian SFs), Novak Djokovic became the 2nd player in the Open Era to win all 4 Grand Slam tournaments consecutively, although not in a calendar year (a "Non-calendar Year Grand Slam"). Murray then won Wimbledon (defeated Milos Raonic who defeated Federer in the SFs; Djokovic lost in the 3rd round), the Olympic Games (now worth no ATP points) and the ATP World Tour Finals (defeated Djokovic in the final, a match that decided the ATP No. 1 ranking, and Raonic in SFs). Rankings: The ITF named Murray World Champion. In the ATP's rankings, Murray was No. 1 and Djokovic No. 2.
2017	Rafael Nadal (ESP)	Roger Federer (SUI)	ITF; ATP year-end rankings. Roger Federer won the Australian Open (defeated Rafael Nadal in the final) and Wimbledon for the record 8th time (defeated Marin Čilić; Nadal lost in the 4th round). Nadal won the French Open (defeated Stan Wawrinka; Federer absent) for the record 10th time and the US Open (defeated Kevin Anderson in the final; Federer lost in the QFs). Federer won 3 of the 4 Masters 1000s he played while Nadal won 2 of 9. Nadal had a 67–11 record with 6 titles in 18 events thus earning more points than Federer who was 52–5 with 7 titles in 12 events (did not play any clay events). Federer was 4–0 vs Nadal. Rankings: The ITF named Nadal as World Champion. In the ATP's rankings, Nadal was No. 1, Federer No. 2. Sports Illustrated's tennis MVP award was a tie between Nadal and Federer. The International Sports Press Association voted Federer the world athlete of the year.
2018	Novak Djokovic (SRB)	Rafael Nadal (ESP)	ITF; ATP year-end rankings. From July to November, Novak Djokovic won Wimbledon (defeated Kevin Anderson and Rafael Nadal in the SFs 10–8 in the 5th set to even their match-up for the year at 1–1), the US Open (defeated Juan Martin del Potro who defeated Nadal in the SFs), and 2 out of 4 Masters 1000 tournaments to rise from No. 22 to No. 1 in the ATP rankings unseating Nadal (36 weeks at No. 1 this year). Djokovic had no other titles (played all 9 Masters 1000s) finishing with a 49–11 record. Nadal won the French Open (defeated Dominic Thiem; Djokovic lost QFs), 3 Masters 1000s out of 4 played, and 1 other title to go 45–4 in 9 events (injured in March and after the U.S. Open). Rankings: The ITF named Djokovic World Champion. In the ATP's rankings, Djokovic was No. 1, Nadal No. 2. The Sports Illustrated Tennis Player of the Year was Djokovic.
2019	Rafael Nadal (ESP)	Novak Djokovic (SRB)	ITF; ATP year-end rankings. Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic split the Grand Slam tournaments. Nadal won the French Open for the record 12th time (defeated Dominic Thiem, after they defeated Roger Federer and Djokovic in the SFs) and the US Open (defeated Daniil Medvedev; Djokovic lost in 4th round) passing Djokovic (after 52 weeks), for the ATP No. 1 ranking the 2nd last week of the season to become, at 33, the oldest year-end No. 1 in the Open Era. Djokovic won the Australian Open (defeated Nadal who defeated Stefanos Tsitsipas in SFs) and Wimbledon (defeated Federer 13–12 (3) in the fifth set; Federer defeated Nadal in SFs). Nadal and Djokovic both won 2 Master 1000s; Djokovic made 1 other final but no SFs, while Nadal made 0 and 4. Nadal was 53–7 while Djokovic was 54–11. The Big 3 had 1–1 records against each other. Rankings: The ITF named Nadal World Champion.[140] In the ATP's rankings, Nadal was No. 1, Djokovic No. 2. The Sports Illustrated tennis MVP was Nadal.[141]
2020	Novak Djokovic (SRB)	Rafael Nadal (ESP)	ATP year-end rankings. Year disrupted by COVID-19 pandemic. Novak Djokovic defeated Dominic Thiem in the final of the Australian Open. Nadal won the French Open for the record 13th time defeating Novak Djokovic in the final. Wimbledon was cancelled because of the pandemic. In the US Open, Thiem defeated Alexander Zverev in the final while Djokovic was disqualified from the tournament in 4th round. Djokovic won 2 Masters 1000 titles, while Nadal and Thiem none. Djokovic had 41–5 match winning record, Nadal was 27–7 and Thiem was 25–9. Rankings: In the ATP's rankings, Djokovic was No. 1, Nadal No. 2.

Records

Pancho Gonzales, No. 1 for 8 years.

Bill Tilden, No. 1 for 7 years.

Novak Djokovic, No. 1 for 7 years.

Rod Laver, No. 1 for 7 years.

Pete Sampras, No. 1 for 6 years.

Ken Rosewall, No. 1 for 6 years.

Don Budge, No. 1 for 5 years.

Roger Federer, No. 1 for 5 years.

Rafael Nadal, No. 1 for 5 years.

Year-end No. 1s

• An undisputed number one player for the year (without another player regarded as co-number one) is shown in bold.

Total	World No. 1	Years
8 years	Pancho Gonzales	1952, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960
7 years	William Renshaw	1881, 1882, 1883, 1884, 1885, 1886, 1889
	Bill Tilden	1920, 1921, 1922, 1923, 1924, 1925, 1931
	Novak Djokovic	2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2018, 2020
	Rod Laver	1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970
6 years	Pete Sampras	1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998
	Ken Rosewall	1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1970
	Reginald Doherty	1897, 1898, 1899, 1900, 1901, 1902
5 years	Roger Federer	2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
	Laurence Doherty	1902, 1903, 1904, 1905, 1906
	Don Budge	1937, 1938, 1939, 1940, 1942
	Rafael Nadal	2008, 2010, 2013, 2017, 2019
	William Larned	1901, 1902, 1908, 1909, 1910
	Ellsworth Vines	1932, 1934, 1935, 1936, 1937
	Jack Kramer	1948, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1953
	Joshua Pim	1890, 1891, 1893, 1894, 1895
4 years	Bobby Riggs	1941, 1945, 1946, 1947
	Björn Borg	1977, 1978, 1979, 1980
	Wilfred Baddeley	1891, 1892, 1895, 1896
3 years	Henri Cochet	1928, 1929, 1930
	Jimmy Connors	1974, 1976, 1982
	John McEnroe	1981, 1983, 1984
	Ivan Lendl	1985, 1986, 1987
	Ernest Renshaw	1887, 1888, 1892
	Anthony Wilding	1911, 1912, 1913
	Fred Perry	1936, 1937, 1941
2 years	John Hartley	1879, 1880
	René Lacoste	1926, 1927
	Stefan Edberg	1990, 1991
	Lleyton Hewitt	2001, 2002
	Norman Brookes	1907, 1911
	Maurice McLoughlin	1912, 1914
	Stan Smith	1971, 1972
	Willoughby Hamilton	1889, 1890
	Ernest Lewis	1890, 1891
	Malcolm Whitman	1899, 1900
	Bill Johnston	1919, 1922
	Pancho Segura	1950, 1952
1 year	Spencer Gore	1877
	Frank Hadow	1878
	Jack Crawford	1933
	Ilie Năstase	1973
	Arthur Ashe	1975
	Mats Wilander	1988
	Boris Becker	1989
	Jim Courier	1992
	Andre Agassi	1999
	Gustavo Kuerten	2000
	Andy Roddick	2003
	Andy Murray	2016
	Herbert Lawford	1887
	Wilberforce Eaves	1897
	Robert Wrenn	1897
	Arthur Gore	1901
	Gerald Patterson	1919
	Frank Sedgman	1953
	Lew Hoad	1959
	John Newcombe	1971
	Guillermo Vilas	1977

Leading No. 1 by decade

• The year the player was the undisputed number one player (without another player regarded as co-number one) is shown in bold.

Decade	World No. 1	Years
1870s	Spencer Gore	1877
	Frank Hadow	1878
	John Hartley	1879
1880s	William Renshaw	1881, 1882, 1883, 1884, 1885, 1886, 1889
1890s	Joshua Pim	1890, 1891, 1893, 1894, 1895
1900s	Laurence Doherty	1902, 1903, 1904, 1905, 1906
1910s	Anthony Wilding	1911, 1912, 1913
1920s	Bill Tilden	1920, 1921, 1922, 1923, 1924, 1925
1930s	Ellsworth Vines	1932, 1934, 1935, 1936, 1937
1940s	Bobby Riggs	1941, 1945, 1946, 1947
1950s	Pancho Gonzales	1952, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959
1960s	Rod Laver	1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969
1970s	Björn Borg	1977, 1978, 1979
1980s	John McEnroe	1981, 1983, 1984
	Ivan Lendl	1985, 1986, 1987
1990s	Pete Sampras	1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998
2000s	Roger Federer	2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
2010s	Novak Djokovic	2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2018
2020s	Novak Djokovic	2020

Youngest & oldest No. 1

• The age is measured at 31 December of year ranked as No. 1.

Youngest	19 years, 1 month	Lew Hoad	1953
Oldest	40 years, 10 months	Bill Tilden	1933

See also

• List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players
• ITF World Champions
• World number 1 ranked female tennis players

Notes

References

Further reading

Unless otherwise indicated the rankings are based on the following sources:

• United States Professional Lawn Tennis Association (USPLTA). The USPLTA was composed of a group of professional players in the late 1940s and early 1950s and, for several years, issued its own official rankings of professional players at the end of each year.
• Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). The ATP has issued its own year-end ranking of the top male players every year since 1973.
• Tennis Is My Racket (1949), by Bobby Riggs. Riggs's autobiography has information about the 1946 professional tour that is slightly different from the other sources. He also writes at length about his 1948 tour with Kramer but says nothing about his playing record in 1947, about which there is much conflicting information.
• Vainqueurs 1946–2003 (2003), by Michel Sutter (Winners 1946–2003 in English). Apparently based mostly on information drawn from the French sports magazine L'Équipe, this is an updated edition of his earlier book Vainqueurs 1946–1991. Both books list the winners of many professional tournaments and matches for the years shown in their titles, but the earlier book also listed the runner-ups, scores, and the exact dates as well as some commentary by the author for each year.
• Der Grösste Meister. Die denkwürdige Karriere des australischen Tennisspielers Kenneth Robert Rosewall (1999), by Robert Geist. This is a detailed account of Ken Rosewall's career with many statistics and, in particular, his annual rankings during his professional career.
• Modern Tennis (1915), by P.A. Vaile (second edition).
• Lawn Tennis (1889), by W. Methven Brownlee (Arrowsmith, Bristol)
• Kings of the Court. The story of lawn tennis. by E.C. Potter. (Barnes and Company, New York, 1963.) Tennis history book, has details about the pre–World War I players.

External links

• History of the Pro Tennis Wars, by Ray Bowers
  • Chapter I: Suzanne Lenglen and the First Pro Tour
  • Chapter II, Part 1: The eminence of Karel Kozeluh and Vincent Richards 1927–1928
  • Chapter II, Part 2: Deja vu 1929–1930
  • Chapter III: Tilden's Year of Triumph in 1931
  • Chapter IV: Tilden and Nusslein, 1932–1933
  • Chapter V: The Early Ascendancy of Vines, 1934
  • Chapter VI: Vines's Second Year: 1935
  • Chapter VII: Awaiting Perry, 1936
  • Chapter VIII: Perry and Vines, 1937
  • Chapter IX: Readying for Budge, 1938
  • Chapter X: Budge's Great Pro Year, 1939
  • Chapter XI: America, 1940–1941
  • Chapter XII: America, 1942
  • Chapter XIII: The high war years, 1943–1945