5 players with the most ATP Masters 1000 trophies
The ATP World Tour Masters 1000 events is the third highest tier of men's tennis events following the 4 Grand Slams and the season-closing ATP Finals. From 2008 onwards all ATP Masters 1000 matches have been contested as best of three-set contests.
Right now, nine tournaments make up the premier ATP Masters 1000 World Tour. They are Indian Wells Masters, Miami Open, Monte-Carlo Masters, Madrid Open, Italian Open, Canadian Open (Montreal / Toronto), Cincinnati Masters, Shanghai Masters and Paris Masters in chronological order of their scheduling. The Canadian Masters, also called 'The Rogers Cup', is held in Montreal in odd-numbered years and in Toronto in even-numbered years.
Here, we jog down memory lane to take a look at the five players with the most ATP Masters 1000 titles.
Note: The Masters events award the winner 1000 ranking points, and although the official 'Masters' moniker was introduced by the ATP only in 1990, there were equivalent events played even before that. The winners of 1000-level tournaments before 1990 are not recognized as Masters champions by the ATP today, because of which Andre Agassi with 17 Masters titles still finds himself in the ATP's top 5 list. However, for the purposes of this article, we have considered Masters champions even before 1990.
#4 John McEnroe
The German-born American John McEnroe, considered among the greatest volleyers the game of tennis has ever had, won a total of 19 Masters titles during the time-frame of 1978-1985 inclusive.
He won an impressive five titles at the London Masters and four each at the Philadelphia and Stockholm events, all of which are no longer a part of the elite Masters 1000 venues today.
The gifted shot-maker, who was also known for his fiery temper and on-court confrontations, was a crowd-puller back in his time. After retirement, he made a successful transition to becoming a tennis analyst.