The 5 American men to win the ATP Finals as Taylor Fritz looks to end 25-year drought: Pete Sampras at No 1
The United States have won the most ATP Finals as a country as they have collected 11 year-end trophies, but the last American man to win a title was back in 1999.
Taylor Fritz has the chance to join the exclusive club of American men to win the ATP Finals after he reached the 2024 finale in Turin with a stunning three-set win over Alexander Zverev in the semi-final.
The 27-year-old will face world No 1 Jannik Sinner for the title and massive prize-money jackpot in what will be a repeat of this year’s US Open final, which was won by the Italian.
Fritz is the first American man since James Blake in 2006 to reach the ATP Finals. Blake was unable to become the sixth American man to win the title that year as he lost the best-of-five set finale in straight sets against Roger Federer and the Swiss won the third of his six titles.
The 5 The 5 American men to win the ATP Finals:
=3. Andre Agassi – 1
Andre Agassi appeared in four season-ending finals, but won only one title as he lifted the trophy in 1990 when he beat Stefan Edberg 5–7, 7–6 (7–5), 7–5, 6–2 in his first final.
He had to wait nine years before reaching the grand finale again, but this time he was denied by Pete Sampras, who won the last of his five titles in straight sets.
Agassi reached a third final in 2000 and was denied by Gustavo Kuerten in three sets while in 2003 he was beaten 6–3, 6–0, 6–4 by Roger Federer.
=3. Jimmy Connors – 1
Jimmy Connors became the second American man to win the Masters Grand Prix – as it was known from 1970 to 1989 – when he beat Bjorn Borg in the best of three sets in New York City in 1977.
Surprisingly, that was Connors’ only appearance in the final as he lost in seven semi-finals although he did win two titles at the rival WCT Finals.
=3. Stan Smith – 1
Stan Smith won the inaugural Masters Grand Prix in Tokyo in 1970 when he defeated Rod Laver.
He was also the first man to appear in three consecutive finals as he reached the showpiece matches in 1971 and 1972 as well only to lose both encounters against Ilie Nastase.
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2. John McEnroe – 3
The great John McEnroe won his first title in 1978 when he beat Arthur Ashe 6–7 (5–7), 6–3, 7–5 in New York City.
After losing the 1982 final against Ivan Lendl, McEnroe became the first man to win three titles as he defeated Lendl in the next two editions.
Lendl, who was still competing under the Czechoslovakia flag, would go on to win three in a row to become the first player to win five season-ending tournaments.
1. Pete Sampras – 5
One year after winning his maiden Grand Slam at the 1990 US Open, Pete Sampras collected the first of his five season-ending tournament trophies in Frankfurt as he defeated fellow American Jim Courier 3–6, 7–6 (7–5), 6–3, 6–4.
After losing the 1993 final against Michael Stich, Sampras won his second title the following year when he beat Boris Becker and in 1996 he again beat the German for his third title, this time in an epic as he won 3–6, 7–6 (7–5), 7–6 (7–4), 6–7 (11–13), 6–4.
Three titles became four in 1997 with a three set win over Yevgeny Kafelnikov and in 1999 he made it five with a straight-set win over Agassi.