Jannik Sinner, Boris Becker and Lleyton Hewitt were among the ATP No. 1 Club members honoured during an on-court ceremony on Sunday at the Nitto ATP Finals.
Twelve of the 30 players to have reached No. 1 in the PIF ATP Rankings were welcomed onto court to a standing ovation from the packed crowd inside Turin’s Inalpi Arena. Ilie Nastase, Mats Wilander, Stefan Edberg, Thomas Muster, Yevgeny Kafelnikov, Marat Safin, Gustavo Kuerten and Juan Carlos Ferrero were also in attendance, as well as ATP Chairman Andrea Gaudenzi and host Andrea Petkovic.
The ceremony took place ahead of Alexander Zverev’s opening match against Rafael Jodar at the season finale. Earlier this month, Zverev became the 30th player to reach World No. 1.
Among those celebrated was Sinner, the two-time reigning Nitto ATP Finals champion. Although the Italian is unable to compete in Turin this year due to injury, he was still able to address the home crowd.
“To get back healthy, this is my first goal,” Sinner, who has spent 95 weeks at World No. 1, said. “I love the competition. I love to play in front of people. I miss this event. I’m just looking forward to next year and hopefully it’s going to be a good one.”
Hewitt was another of the former World No. 1s in attendance. The Australian became the youngest player in history to reach the summit in November 2001, aged 20 years and nine months, a record he held for more than two decades before Carlos Alcaraz surpassed it in 2022.
“It’s an unbelievable honour,” Hewitt said. “A lot of these guys were idols of mine growing up, and to do it at such a young age was something incredibly special and something I’m really proud of.”
