The Greats' last wins: a look at the first 20 No. 1s

The first 10 ATP No. 1s...

• Ilie Nastase, who was No. 1 on the very first official ATP rankings on August 23, 1973, captured the last of his 64 career ATP titles in Montego Bay, Jamaica in December 1978, battling back from two sets down to beat former No. 1 doubles player Peter Fleming in the final, 2-6, 5-6, 6-2, 6-4, 6-4.
• John Newcombe, who became the second ATP No. 1 on June 3, 1974, is one of the rare players to win their last title at a Grand Slam—the Aussie won the last of his 41 ATP titles on New Year’s Day 1975 at the Australian Open in Melbourne, edging Jimmy Connors in the final, 7-5, 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7).
• Jimmy Connors captured the last of his record 109 career ATP titles in Tel Aviv, Israel in October 1989, dropping the first set but then breezing through the next two sets to beat Gilad Bloom in the final, 2-6, 6-2, 6-1. That title came more than 15 years after he first got to No. 1 on July 29, 1974.
• Right after playing his last Grand Slam at the US Open, reaching the final, Bjorn Borg won the 66th and last ATP title of his career on the clay of Geneva, Switzerland in September 1981, beating Tomas Smid in the final, 6-4, 6-3. Borg was the fourth ATP No. 1, rising to the top spot on August 23, 1977.
• John McEnroe, who became the second American man to top the ATP rankings on March 3, 1980, won the last of his 77 career ATP titles on home soil in Chicago in March 1991, and it was a final to remember—he battled almost two hours to beat his brother Patrick for the title, 3-6, 6-2, 6-4.

• With 94, Ivan Lendl (pictured) has the third-most career titles in ATP history after Connors’ 109 and Roger Federer’s 103, and he won the last of them in Tokyo in October 1993, beating American Todd Martin in the final, 6-4, 6-4. Lendl first rose to No. 1 on February 28, 1983 and spent 270 career weeks there.
• Mats Wilander won the last of his 33 career ATP titles in Itaparica, Brazil in November 1990, cruising past Marcelo Filippini in the final, 6-1, 6-2. Wilander had risen to No. 1 on September 12, 1988, right after winning the last of his seven Grand Slam titles at the US Open, where he beat Lendl in the final.
• Stefan Edberg, who followed in Borg and Wilander’s footsteps to become the third Swede to reach No. 1 on August 13, 1990, won the last of his 41 career ATP titles in Doha, Qatar in January 1995, in the first week of the season—he beat countryman Magnus Larsson in the final, 7-6 (4), 6-1.
• Two weeks after reaching his last big final at the ATP Finals, where he fell to Pete Sampras in five sets, Boris Becker won the last of his 49 career ATP titles on home soil in Munich in December 1996, beating Goran Ivanisevic in the final, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4. Becker had risen to No. 1 on January 28, 1991.
• Jim Courier became the 10th ATP No. 1 on February 10, 1992, a few weeks after winning the second of his four career majors at the Australian Open. He would win 23 career ATP titles, the last one coming in Orlando in April 1998, outlasting fellow American Michael Chang in the final, 7-5, 3-6, 7-5.

The first WTA No. 1s…

• Chris Evert was the first WTA No. 1, holding the top spot when the WTA rankings made their debut on November 3, 1975. She would eventually amass 154 career WTA titles, the last of which came in New Orleans in October 1988, where she beat countrywoman Anne Smith in the final, 6-4, 6-1.
• Evonne Goolagong, who became the second WTA No. 1 on April 26, 1976, won the last of her 68 career WTA titles at arguably the biggest stage in tennis at Wimbledon in 1980. She would beat Evert in the final, 6-1, 7-6 (4), for her second Wimbledon title and seventh overall Grand Slam title.
• Martina Navratilova won the last of her 167 career WTA titles on the indoor hard courts of Paris in February 1994, beating Julie Halard-Decugis in the final, 7-5, 6-3. That was more than 15 years after she first rose to No. 1, becoming the third woman to top the WTA rankings on July 10, 1978.
• Tracy Austin was one of the most successful young stars in tennis history, winning two US Opens and rising to No. 1 as a 17-year-old on April 7, 1980. She won 30 WTA titles, all of them before her 20th birthday—the last one was San Diego in August 1982, beating Kathy Rinaldi in the final, 7-6 (5), 6-3.
• Steffi Graf, who first rose to No. 1 on August 17, 1987, had a fairytale ending to her career in June of 1999, winning her 22nd and last Grand Slam title—which was also her 107th and last WTA title—at Roland Garros. She battled back to beat then-No. 1 Martina Hingis in the final, 4-6, 7-5, 6-2.

• Nine-time Grand Slam champion Monica Seles, who became No. 1 on March 11, 1991, won her 53rd and final WTA title more than 11 years later in Madrid in May 2002, beating fellow American Chanda Rubin in the final, 6-4, 6-2. She would play her last tournament at Roland Garros a year later.
• Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario was Graf and Seles’ most consistent challenger in the early-to-mid-1990s, reaching No. 1 on on February 6, 1995. She won her 29th and last WTA title at the same event Seles won her last title, but in May 2001, beating Angeles Montolio in the Madrid final, 7-5, 6-0.
• Martina Hingis is the youngest player ever to reach No. 1, doing it as a 16-year-old on March 31, 1997. She captured 43 career WTA titles, the last of which coming in Tokyo in February 2007 during her two-year comeback out of retirement. She beat Ana Ivanovic in the final that week, 6-4, 6-2.
• Lindsay Davenport, who rose to No. 1 on October 12, 1998, also captured her last WTA title during a comeback to the tour—but as a mom. The three-time Grand Slam champion won her 55th and final career WTA title at Memphis in March 2008, dominating Olga Govortsova in the final, 6-2, 6-1.
• Jennifer Capriati is the 10th woman to reach No. 1 on the WTA rankings, on October 15, 2001, and she won 14 career WTA titles, the last one coming at New Haven in August 2003, right before the US Open. She won the final by retirement, 6-2, 4-0, when Davenport had to stop due to a foot injury.