Who may need to rethink their trophy cabinet after hogging hardware? The Top 5 WTA and ATP singles title holders of 2021...
Six women tied for fifth by snagging a pair of titles: Paula Badosa, Danielle Collins, Daria Kasatkina Aryna Sabalenka, Iga Swiatek and Clara Tauson.
Two competitors came in third with three triumphs. After winning her first WTA singles crown in Strasbourg, Barbora Krejcikova backed it up in astounding fashion with an even bigger breakthrough at Roland Garros. She later won Prague in July.
Garbiñe Muguruza joined the Czech after defeating her en route to becoming Spain’s first WTA Finals champion. Earlier in the year, Muguruza also bested Krejcikova for the Dubai trophy and tacked on the Chicago 500 event.
A run of four titles over a seven-event stretch in Chicago (250), Ostrava, Moscow and Cluj-Napoca propelled Anett Kontaveit to her first WTA Finals appearance, where she finished runner-up. The only WTA player to topple the Estonian in the title department in 2021 was...
…None other than world No. 1 Ashleigh Barty. Her greatest success occurred at Wimbledon, where Barty raised her second major singles trophy. The Aussie also defended her Miami crown, won on home soil at a 500 in Melbourne, outclassed three Top 10 opponents in a sizzling Stuttgart route and ran the table in Cincinnati.
On the ATP Tour, four titles were required to crack the Top 5. Daniil Medvedev’s maiden major crown at the US Open followed triumphs in Marseille, Mallorca and Toronto to place him in a tie for fourth.
Jannik Sinner’s first full season on tour was full of hardware that included his first 500 title in Washington, D.C. The Italian also won Melbourne 1, Sofia and Antwerp.
Two competitors brought home five trophies to rank second. Most notably: Novak Djokovic. The world No. 1 became the first man since 1969 to win the first three majors of the year in a season to remember. Additionally, Djokovic tasted victory at the Paris Masters and Belgrade 2.
Five title runs enabled Casper Ruud to break into the Top 10 and secure his place at the ATP Finals. All came at the 250 level, with four on clay (Geneva, Bastaad, Gstaad, Kitzbuhel) and his first hard-court success (San Diego).
Outside of missing an elusive major, Alexander Zverev’s 2021 was full of winning moments. Six vaulted him to the top of his tour’s annual title haul list: a second ATP Finals crown, two Masters 1000s at Madrid and Cincinnati, two 500s at Acapulco and Vienna and one coveted Olympic gold medal.