No 1 Membership
On at the present time: Kuerten hits No. 1 after Masters Cup magic in Lisbon
Brazilian defeated Agassi on remaining day of 2000 season to seal rise to prime spot
December 04, 2025
Henri Szwarc/Bongarts/Getty Pictures
Gustavo Kuerten closed 2000 with 4 consecutive Prime 10 wins to complete the yr as World No. 1.
By Andy West
It might take 12 months of exhausting work to succeed in No. 1 within the PIF ATP Rankings, however Gustavo Kuerten’s rise to prime spot will without end be related to a busy 48 hours in Lisbon.
Competing on the 2000 Nitto ATP Finals (then often called the Tennis Masters Cup), Brazilian star Kuerten pulled off back-to-back victories towards a pair of American greats to seal the event trophy, his first rise to World No. 1, and ATP 12 months-Finish No. 1 introduced by PIF honours — multi functional swoop.
Incumbent No. 1 Marat Safin headed into the celebrated season finale needing three match wins to ensure he held onto prime spot, however he completed his marketing campaign one victory quick after shedding to Pete Sampras (within the group stage) and Andre Agassi (within the semi-finals). The door was ajar for Kuerten, however the Brazilian now confronted the identical opponents as Safin, solely in reverse: if he may beat Sampras within the semi-final and Agassi within the remaining, the No. 1 spot was his.
Roared on by an adoring Lisbon crowd, Kuerten someway overcame the bodily points that plagued him all week in Portugal to drag off a pair of memorable victories. He rallied from a set down within the best-of-three semi-final to defeat Sampras, earlier than driving a wave of emotion to a 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 championship-match triumph towards Agassi.
Kuerten’s Lisbon triumph was his fifth tour-level title of the 2000 season. He triumphed on his favoured clay in Santiago, on the ATP Masters 1000 in Hamburg, and at Roland Garros, the place he reclaimed the key title he had first received in 1997. He additionally received the primary ATP Tour hard-court crown of his profession in Indianapolis and reached additional Masters 1000 finals in Miami and Rome, respectively, en path to a 63-22 file for the season, in response to the Infosys ATP Win/Loss Index.
Kuerten due to this fact had loads of fond reminiscences from the 2000 season alone, to not point out from the remainder of his profession. But even after ending his taking part in days as a three-time Roland Garros champion who loved 43 weeks total as World No. 1, he recognises his Lisbon heroics have been one thing particular.
“As a tennis participant, nothing could possibly be greater than turning into No. 1 on the [Tennis Masters Cup], beating Pete after which Andre back-to-back,” Kuerten, who’s the one South American to have claimed ATP 12 months-Finish No. 1 introduced by PIF honours, later stated. “That is the spotlight of my profession by far.”
