8 players to have successfully defended their ATP Finals title

#5 Ivan Lendl (Successfully defended his title 3 times)

Ivan Lendl

Ivan Lendl became the first player in ATP Finals history to win 5 titles at the tournament with his triumph in the 1987 final over Sweden's Mats Wilander. Lendl is the only player in tournament history to have won the title at the same venue on most occasions (5), winning all his 5 titles in New York City.

After falling short against Björn Borg in the 1980 final on his tournament debut, Lendl beat Vitas Gerulaitis in the 1981 final to record his first title in the tournament.

The 1982 edition of the tournament, then called the Masters Grand Prix, saw a change in format, with the earlier 8-player round-robin format making way for a 12-player knockout round tournament. Lendl and three of the other top-4 seeds had first-round byes.

Lendl beat Yannick Noah in the quarterfinals, Jimmy Connors in the semis, and John McEnroe in the final, all in straight sets, to record his first successful title defence at the tournament in his very first attempt.

Following defeats in the 1983-1984 finals to McEnroe, Lendl beat that year's reigning Wimbledon champion, a 17-year-old Boris Becker in the final to win his 3rd title at the tournament. Further successes followed in 1986 (beat Becker in the final) and 1987 (beat Wilander in the final), as Lendl became the first player in tournament history to reach 9 consecutive finals and win 5 titles.

#6 John McEnroe (Successfully defended his title once)

John McEnroe

John McEnroe became the youngest player (19 years old) and the only teenager to triumph at the ATP Finals when he beat Arthur Ashe in the 1978 final.

McEnroe's triumph marked the 4th time in 5 years a left-hander had won the season-finale tournament, following Guillermo Vilas (1974), Manuel Orantes (1976) and Jimmy Connors (1977).

In 1983, McEnroe dethroned two-time defending champion Ivan Lendl to record his second title at the tournament. The American returned the following year to defend his title, and in a repeat of the previous year's title match, beat Lendl to register his first successful title defence at the ATP Finals, then called the Masters Grand Prix.