The fifth of Boris Becker’s six Grand Slam singles titles clinched his rise to the top of the PIF ATP Rankings for the first time on 28 January 1991. The only German man to rise to World No. 1, Becker earned the honour after beating Ivan Lendl in that year’s Australian Open final.
Entering the Melbourne major at World No. 2, Becker passed his longtime rival Stefan Edberg for the top spot. The Swede was beaten by Lendl in the Aussie Open semis, leaving his position under threat.
Becker burst onto the ATP Tour scene as a 17-year-old in 1985, when he became the youngest-ever Wimbledon champion — a distinction he still holds. By the time he became No. 1 nearly six years later, he had won three titles at the All England Club and one each at the US Open and the Tennis Masters Cup (now the Nitto ATP Finals).
Becker’s status atop the PIF ATP Rankings was set up by five titles in 1990 before he applied the finishing touch at the 1991 Australian Open. In the first year of the new decade, the German won an ATP Masters 1000 title on carpet in Stockholm, two more carpet crowns in Brussels and Stuttgart, and two pieces of hard-court hardware in Indianapolis and Sydney.
The German spent an initial three weeks at the summit, with the No. 1 spot changing hands four times in 1991 between Becker and Edberg. Becker returned to the top of the men’s game for a further nine weeks after reaching his sixth (of seven total) Wimbledon finals in July, but Edberg started and ended the year on top
In his 12 total weeks at No. 1, Becker won 12 of 15 matches and reached one final, losing to Pete Sampras in Indianapolis.
Learn more about the ATP No. 1 Club
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