5 Masters 1000 to Djokovic in 2011 - Laver did it first

[timnz]

It was reported that Djokovic was the first to win 5 Masters 1000 events in one calendar year. A great achievement. But lets not forget that Rod Laver was first to do this in 1970 at the age of 32.

The Championship series was the direct fore-runner of the Master 1000 series. In fact to underscore their equivalency, the first 2 years of the Masters 1000 series (1990-1992) - it was known as the 'ATP Championship Series Single Week'

In 1970 Laver didn't do that well in the Slams but in the Championship level events he was head and shoulders above the rest winning:

Johannesburg
Los Angeles
London
Philadelphia
Sydney (this tournament had a deeper field than the Australian Open that year and best of 5 set matches)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Prix_Tennis_Championship_Series_1970-1989

So, no Djokovic wasn't the first to do five.

I do think that when comparisons between players are done quoting their Masters 1000's wins the Championship series numbers should be included - otherwise what do you do about players whose careers overlapped both eg Beckers? It is clearly inaccurate to list only the 5 Masters 1000's he won when he won another 8 Championship series - 13 seems about right I feel.

I should also add that Connors won 5 as well in 1976.

 

[Nathaniel_Near]

Agree totally. When talking about amount of 1000's wins, it should be spoken of also in terms of previous equivalents. They might have been branded differently but hold about the same weight, and so Lendl has 22 1000's and Connors 18/19.. and such.

 

[urban]

I cannot find a reason, why not extend this list to 1968-69. The Grand Prix was installed by the ITF against the WCT, but there were the same events in the years before. In 1969, in addition to his Grand Slam, Laver won 4 such equivalents, Johannesburg, Philadeplpia, Boston and Wembley (for 1969 i can single out clearly only 8 such events, including Rome, Hamburg, MSG and LA South Pacific, others that can be debated are MSG pros (best prize money behind Forest Hills), Las Vegas, Fort Worth, Queens). In 1968, Laver won US pros Boston, French pros (at Roland Garros) and LA South Pacific Open (had the best field outside Wim and Forest Hills). Other equivalents were Rome and Hamburg, Wembley Kramer tournament of Champions).

 

[Dean]

In 1970 Laver didn't do that well in the Slams but in the Championship level events he was head and shoulders above the rest winning:

This is true to a point. He wasn't allowed to defend either of his Australian & French Open titles in 1970.