Jannik Sinner is the most recent player to win the Davis Cup while holding the top spot in the ATP Rankings; only five men have done so.
The world’s biggest annual team sports competition, the Davis Cup, has existed since 1900, but the singles rankings weren’t established until August 1973. Only five men have won the Davis Cup title while ranked number one in the world in the last 51 years, even though 29 different men have held the top spot and 19 have finished the year as the top-ranked player.
The great John McEnroe won five Davis Cup championships with the United States and was ranked number one for 172 weeks in a row. When he was ranked #1 in the world, he won two Davis Cup titles.
During his tenure as the world’s number one from October 1992 to April 1993, Jim Courier helped the United States defeat Switzerland 3-1 in Texas to win the Davis Cup. Pete Sampras only won two Davis Cup titles despite dominating the ATP Rankings for an amazing 286 weeks.
Rafael Nadal became the fourth man to win the Davis Cup, and it would be more than 20 years before the number one seed would do so again. When Jannik Sinner won the Davis Cup at No. 1 five years later, it was reduced to a five-man team.
Sinner, who was ranked fourth in the ATP Rankings when he led Italy to the Davis Cup title in 2023, was once again in the spotlight when they successfully defended their title the following year.
Jannik Sinner in 2024
WWWWWWWWWW Ranked no.1, Jannik played his last match on the 24th of November when he overcame world no.40 Tallon Griekspoor 7-6(2) 6-2 in the Rubber 2 of the Davis Cup (draw).
At present, during this year Jannik owns an overall 73-6 record. Sinner clinched 8 titles in 2024 at the Australian Open, Rotterdam, Miami, Halle, Cincinnati, U.S. Open, Shanghai and the Nitto ATP Finals. Sinner got to the final in Beijing.
