Sinner is the 29th number one in the ATP rankings in history. Can you put together at least ten former leaders?

The end of the French Open brought not only Alcaraz’s triumph. Jannik Sinner took the top of the ATP ranking. Who spent the most weeks in a row at the top and how many names from the list of champions can you even remember?

King Sinner and his predecessors

The end of the French Open couldn’t change that. Italy’s Sinner is the most successful player over the last year, has won the most points at ATP tournaments and is the leader of the rankings for the first time in his career. The leader with the number 29 ranking.

He has replaced the legend of the white sport, Novak Djokovic. He spent an astonishing 428 weeks at the top of the rankings. Moreover, he can still return to the top spot.

Roger Federer won’t add any more weeks at the top. But the Swiss holds a different championship in his hands. He has dominated the ATP rankings for 237 weeks straight. He’s unrivalled in that respect.

The third of the rulers of the last decade, Rafael Nadal, has been the overall leader for 209 weeks and is third in this respect. Thus, he followed his compatriots Ferrer and Moya, however, he already has a follower as well.

Carlos Alcaraz made history indelibly with his fresh triumph at Roland Garros. He earned the position of world number one the year before last and has now spent 36 weeks at the top. At 21, he certainly has a lot to build on.

The most successful nations

The aforementioned Swedes have only one conqueror among the nations. They are, of course, the Americans. The ranking was dominated by Andy Roddick, Jim Courier, Andre Agassi, John McEnroe, Jimmy Connors, Ivan Lendl and Pete Sampras.

Interestingly, the last mentioned trio ruled the ATP circuit for a very similar period of time, between 268 and 286 weeks. All three are thus ranked behind Federer in the leaderboard in the third to fifth position.

Of course, Czechoslovakia is also represented in this list in the person of Ivan Lendl, because the legendary tennis player won his successes before he became an American citizen.

Among the most successful countries are also Swedes (Borg, Edberg and Wilander ruled the ATP), Russians (Medvedev, Safin, Kafelnikov) and Australians (Hewitt, Newcombe, Rafter).

Finally ..

The list of legendary names that Sinner is among is a huge accolade and also a challenge. Given his age, the Italian has the potential to rank very high.

The same applies to Alcaraz. Just for comparison: the phenomenal Djokovic made his way to the imaginary throne at the age of twenty-four, Alcaraz made it at nineteen.

Source: ATP, X