ATP TENNIS MASTERS CUP HISTORY AND STATISTICS

Much has changed in men's tennis since the first year-end championship in 1970, just two years into the Open Era when amateurs and professionals could finally compete at the same events. The first two year-end championships were round robin-only affairs, where the player with the best win-loss total (or points in the event of a tie) was declared the winner.

In 1972 the event changed to the current format with two groups of four, with the top two from each group proceeding to the semifinals. But in 1982 the format changed back to single elimination with a 12-man field, with the top four seeds receiving byes. This lasted four years until the format was changed back to round robin play in 1986 with two groups of four, and the format has held ever since.

MASTERS CUP INFO   Site:  Xian Xuiang Tennis Center Shanghai, China   Date:  Nov. 12-20   Draw:  8 (Round Robin)   Surface:  Outdoor Hard   Prize:  $4.45 mil   Race  Points:  RR Win: 20 SF Win: 40 Final Win: 50   Players:  R. Federer R. Nadal A. Agassi G. Coria N. Davydenko I. Ljubicic G. Gaudio D. Nalbandian   Singles  Schedule:  Round-Robin 1pm (Sun) 2pm, 7pm Semifinals Sat. 7pm Final Sun. 4pm (times - local)

While best known for its stretch at Madison Square Garden in New York City, the Masters Cup has spent a good deal of time on the road since its inception, beginning in Tokyo (1970), then to Paris (1971), Barcelona (1972), Boston, Mass., USA (1973), Melbourne (1974), Stockholm (1975), Houston, Tx., USA (1976), New York (1977-89), Frankfurt (1990-95), Hannover (1996-99), Lisbon (2000), Sydney (2001), Shanghai (2002), Houston (2003-04), and now back to Shanghai for 2005.

The first five years of the year-end championship was singles-only, and when doubles was initiated in 1975, it was round robin-only between four teams. The following year it changed to the four-team semifinals-then-final format, which it would stick with from 1976-1981. From 1982-85 the doubles format expanded to include six teams, still single elimination, with the top two teams receiving first-round byes. In 1986 the doubles broke from the singles, moving to England and adopting the current format with two groups of four teams. The doubles championship remained in London from 1986-89, until the inception in 1990 of the ATP Tour, which sent the event on a wild ride that included Sanctuary Cove, Australia (1990), Johannesburg, South Africa (1991-93), Jakarta, Indonesia (1994), Eindhoven, The Netherlands (1995), Hartford, Conn., USA (1996-99), and Bangalore, India (2000). By this time the ATP had lost the tennis media and doubles fans, and the event was cancelled in 2001 and 2002. The Masters Cup Doubles resurfaced in Houston in 2003-04, and now in 2005 stays with the singles in Shanghai amidst the controversy of ATP players suing the ATP governing body over proposed changes to the scoring and tournament entry for doubles players via a combined ranking system designed to eliminate lower-ranked doubles experts.

Strange things can happen when you gather the top eight singles players for one event at year's end. Who would have thought that Romanian bad boy Ilie Nastase would so blister the competition (Laver, Rosewall, Ashe, Smith, Vilas, Borg, Connors) in the first few years of the event that he would far and away hold the best winning percentage? Or that five-time year-end No. 1 Jimmy Connors would accumulate the most Masters losses of any player with an 18-20 win-loss record? Or that Andre Agassi would accumulate a lowly 19-17 record, or that Michael Stich would become the only player to win the Masters Cup in his only appearance?

Here are some Masters Cup statistics that you won't find anywhere else on the web, featuring the best and the worst of the players that have competed in the year-end championship since 1970:

ATP MASTERS CUP SINGLES AND DOUBLES CHAMPIONS

2004 Roger Federer, Bob and Mike Bryan
2003 Roger Federer, Bob and Mike Bryan
2002 Lleyton Hewitt, Doubles Not Held
2001 Lleyton Hewitt, Doubles Not Held
2000 Gustavo Kuerten, Donald Johnson/Piet Norval
1999 Pete Sampras, Sebastien Lareau/Alex O'Brien
1998 Alex Corretja, Jacco Etingh/Paul Haarhuis
1997 Pete Sampras, Rick Leach/Jonathan Stark
1996 Pete Sampras, Mark Woodforde/Todd Woodbridge
1995 Boris Becker, Grant Connell/Patrick Galbraith
1994 Pete Sampras, Jan Apell/Jonas Bjorkman
1993 Michael Stich, Jacco Eltingh/Paul Haarhuis
1992 Boris Becker, Mark Woodforde/Todd Woodbridge
1991 Pete Sampras, John Fitzgerald/Anders Jarryd
1990 Andre Agassi, Guy Forget/Jakob Hlasek
1989 Stefan Edberg, Jim Grabb/Patrick McEnroe

ATP TENNIS MASTERS CUP -- TOP 10 SINGLES WIN PERCENTAGE
Roger Federer and Lleyton Hewitt are the only active players to rank among the all-time winning percentages at the year-end championships (minimum three appearances, through 2004, active players in bold)::

Honorable Mentions:
Michael Stich (GER) 5-0
Rod Laver (AUS) 4-1
Tom Okker (NED) 4-1
Roger Federer (SUI) 3-1
Gene Mayer (USA) 3-1

ATP TENNIS MASTERS CUP -- TOP 10 SINGLES LOSS LEADERS
Former No. 1 Jimmy Connors has the all-time leading losing record at the year-end championships, racking up an amazing 20 losses (includes only players with overall losing records, through 2004):

Honorable Mentions:
Andre Agassi 22-19
Stefan Edberg 18-14
Mats Wilander 10-9
Goran Ivanisevic 7-8
Yannick Noah 1-6
Henri Leconte 1-6
Marat Safin 4-7
Yannick Noah 1-6
Henri Leconte 1-6
Juan Carlos Ferrero 6-6

5--Ivan Lendl (USA)
5--Pete Sampras (USA)
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4--Ilie Nastase (ROM)
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3--Boris Becker (GER)
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2--Bjorn Borg (SWE)
2--Lleyton Hewitt (AUS)
2--John McEnroe (USA)
2--Roger Federer (SUI)

ATP TENNIS MASTERS CUP -- DOUBLES WIN LEADERS
The Woodies hold the all-time record for the most wins at the year-end doubles championship, ahead of Dutch nemeses Eltngh/Haarhuis. Seven-time title winners Fleming-J.McEnroe only have 14 wins due to the shortened format in the 1970s-80s. Swede Anders Jarryd is the only player to post in the Top 10 with two different partners (min. two Masters Cup appearances, results through 2004, active teams in bold):

Honorable Mention:
Forget-Hlasek (FRA/SUI) 5-0
Grabb-P.McEnroe (USA) 5-0
Mecir-Smid (CZE) 5-0

ATP TENNIS MASTERS CUP -- DOUBLES LOSS LEADERS
Spaniards Casal-E. Sanchez have the most losses of any team in Masters cup history with 16, but when it comes down to pure quality, you have to hand it to the aptly-named Nijssen-Suk at 0-12 (includes only teams with overall .500 or losing win-loss records, active teams in bold, through 2004):

Honarable Mentions:
Gunthardt-Taroczy 0-3
Jensen-Jensen 0-3
Gullickson-Gullickson 0-2

ATP TENNIS MASTERS CUP
MULTIPLE DOUBLES TITLE WINNERS

7--Peter Fleming/John McEnroe (USA)
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2--Stefan Edberg/Anders Jarryd (SWE)
2--Jacco Eltingh/Paul Haarhuis (NED)
2--Todd Woodbridge/Mark Woodforde (AUS)
2--Mike Bryan/Bob Bryan (USA)