This article lists the professional
tennis players who reached the highest ranking among their
compatriots during the
Open Era. The rankings used are
ATP rankings for men (since 23 August 1973 for singles, and 1 March 1976 for doubles) and
WTA rankings for women (since 3 November 1975 for singles, and 4 September 1984 for doubles).
On 11 September 2017,
Garbiñe Muguruza and
Rafael Nadal made Spain the first country since the United States 14 years ago to simultaneously top both the
ATP and the
WTA rankings, with Muguruza making her debut in the No. 1 spot. The most recent previous such pair were
Serena Williams and
Andre Agassi, 28 April to 11 May 2003.[1]
Pete Sampras (14), Jimmy Connors (8), Andre Agassi (8), John McEnroe (7), Jim Courier (4), Arthur Ashe (3), Stan Smith (2), Roscoe Tanner, Vitas Gerulaitis, Johan Kriek, Michael Chang, Andy Roddick
27 April 1981 2 March 1981 1 February 1982 9 September 1985 14 October 1985 12 June 1989 19 June 1989 26 March 1990 14 January 1991 12 October 1992 1 February 1993 18 October 1993 1 August 1994 20 March 2000 8 May 2000 28 January 2002 8 September 2003 8 September 2003 3 October 2022 12 June 2023
4 September 1984 18 March 1985 4 March 1991 20 October 1997 3 April 2000 12 June 2000 12 November 2007 7 June 2010 7 June 2010 9 January 2017 15 August 2022 11 September 2023
^Although
Brown has a career high singles ranking of 64 in 2016, he switched nationalities to represent Germany starting in November 2010.
^Benjamin Hassan, who ranked world number 149 in November 2023, has double Lebanese and German nationality, plays for
Lebanon Davis Cup team, but plays under German flag in
ATP Tour. Habib is the highest ranked player who plays under Lebanese flag in ATP Tour.
^Although
Meskhi has a career high singles ranking of 12 in August 1991, she was playing under Soviet flag at that time. Sport organizations did not recognized Georgia as an independent state until after
1992 Summer Olympics (August 1992).
^Both
Kristin Godridge and
Tang Min had a better career high singles ranking than Zhang (79 and 112, respectively) , and played for
Hong Kong Fed Cup team, but played under Australian and Chinese flag, respectively, in
WTA Tour,
^Rezaï, who has double Iranian and French nationality, has always played under the French flag in
WTA Tour.
^Anne Mall, who has a career high singles ranking of 139 in August 1994, has played for
Ireland Fed Cup team, but played under United States flag in
WTA Tour.
^Aliona Bolsova, who has double Spanish and Moldovan nationality, has a career high singles ranking of 88 in July 2019, but she switched nationalities to represent Spain starting in April 2013.
^Although
Gagliardi has a career high singles ranking of 42 in 2002, she switched nationalities to represent Switzerland starting in July 1997.
^Although
Nortje has a career high singles ranking of 447 in 1989, she did not represent Namibia until it became an independent country in 21 March 1990.
^Beier Ko, who has a career high singles ranking of 299 in June 2004, has played for
Singapore Fed Cup team, but played under the Canadian flag in
WTA Tour.
^Fiorella Bonicelli, who played between 1967 and 1978, ranked in the top 40, but data from that time are too sparse to estimate her highest carrer ranking. She certainly ranked 33 on December 1978.[43]