List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players

The ATP Rankings are the Association of Tennis Professionals' (ATP) merit-based method for determining the rankings in men's tennis.  The top-ranked player is the player who, over the previous 52 weeks, has garnered the most ranking points on the ATP Tour.  Points are awarded based on how far a player advances in tournaments and the category of those tournaments.  The ATP has used a computerized system for determining the rankings since August 23, 1973.  Starting in 1979, an updated rankings list is released at the beginning of each week. 

Since 1973, 26 men have been ranked No.  1 by the ATP, of which 17 have been year-end No.  1.  The current world number one is Novak Djokovic. 

Ranking method
Since the introduction of the rankings, the method used to calculate a player's ranking points has changed several times.  As of 2019, the rankings are calculated by totalling the points a player wins in his best eighteen tournaments, subject to certain restrictions.  For top players the counting tournaments are the four Grand Slam tournaments, the eight mandatory ATP Tour Masters 1000 tournaments, the player's best four eligible ATP Tour 500 tournaments (the non-mandatory ATP Masters 1000 event in Monte Carlo may be substituted for one of these), and his best two results from ATP Tour 250 tournaments.  Lower-ranked players who are not eligible for some or all of the top tournaments may include additional ATP 500 and ATP 250 events, and also ATP Challenger Tour, and ITF Men's Circuit tournaments.  Players who qualify for the year-end ATP Finals also include any points gained from the tournament in his total, increasing the number of tournaments counted to 19. 

Records and particularities
Roger Federer holds the records for both the most total weeks at No.  1 (310) and most consecutive weeks at No.  1 (237).  Pete Sampras holds the record for the most year-end No.  1 rankings (six, all consecutive).  Patrick Rafter spent the least time at No.  1 (one week). 

Lleyton Hewitt is both the youngest world No.  1 (20 years, 268 days) and youngest year-end No.  1, while Roger Federer is the oldest No.  1 (36 years, 320 days).  Rafael Nadal is the oldest year-end No.  1 (33 years, 211 days). 

Roger Federer is the player with the longest time span between first and most recent dates at world No.  1 in the history of the ATP.  He most recently held the top ranking the week of June 18, 2018, more than fourteen years after first becoming No.  1 on February 2, 2004. 

Rafael Nadal has the longest timespan, 11 years, between his first and last year-end No.  1 titles, 2008 and 2019.  He is also the only player to be world No.  1 in three different decades.  

Two players, Ivan Lendl and Marcelo Ríos, have reached No.  1 without previously having won a Grand Slam tournament.  Lendl reached No.  1 on February 21, 1983, but did not win his first Grand Slam title until the 1984 French Open.  Ríos reached No.  1 on March 30, 1998, but retired without ever having won a Grand Slam singles title, making him the only No.  1 player with that distinction. 

Since 1973 when the ATP rankings started, there have been twelve years in which one player held the top spot for the entire year: Jimmy Connors in 1975, 1976, and 1978; Ivan Lendl in 1986 and 1987; Pete Sampras in 1994 and 1997; Lleyton Hewitt in 2002; Roger Federer in 2005, 2006, and 2007; and Novak Djokovic in 2015.  In contrast to this, 1999 saw five different players hold the No.  1 ranking (the most in any single year): Pete Sampras, Carlos Moya, Yevgeny Kafelnikov, Andre Agassi, and Patrick Rafter. 

John McEnroe held the No.  1 ranking on a record 14 different occasions, and Pete Sampras is the only other player to have held it on 10 or more occasions with 11 different stints. 

Number 1 ranked players
The statistics are updated only when the ATP website revises its rankings (usually every Monday morning except when tournament finals are postponed). 

Weeks at No.  1

By player
The table on the left shows the total number of weeks that each player has been ranked No.  1 in their career by the ATP. 

The table on the right shows the longest number of consecutive weeks that each indicated player has been ranked No.  1 by the ATP. 

By country

Year-end No.  1

The ATP year-end No.  1 ranked player is determined as the player at the head of the ATP rankings following the completion of the final tournament of the calendar year, usually in November.  Pete Sampras holds the record of six year-end No.  1 rankings, which were in consecutive years from 1993 through 1998. 

Six players have stayed at ATP No.  1 in the rankings every week of a calendar year.  Roger Federer is the only player to have been ranked No.  1 every week for three consecutive calendar years. 

Four players (Ivan Lendl, Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal) have achieved year-end No.  1 rankings in non-consecutive years. 

Time spans holding the ranking

Between first and last dates No.  1 ranking was held

Between first and last dates No.  1 ranking was achieved

Age at first and last dates No.  1 ranking was held

Players who became No.  1 before winning their first Grand Slam title

Weeks at number 1 by decade
Rafael Nadal is the only male tennis player to hold the number 1 ranking in three different decades (2000s, 2010s and 2020s). 

1970s

1980s

1990s

2000s

2010s

2020s

See also
 World number 1 male tennis player rankings (includes rankings before 1973 and in some years the ATP voted a different player as "Player of the Year")
 ATP Rankings
 ATP players with highest rank of 2 to 5
 ATP Rankings achievements – men's singles
 List of ATP number 1 ranked doubles tennis players
 ITF World Champions
 List of WTA number 1 ranked tennis players

References
General

Specific

External links
ATP World Tour website

ATP
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