ATP Finals: Meet the last 5 players to have won the season-ending championship

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Sascha Zverev returns to the 2019 ATP Finals as the defending champion
Sascha Zverev returns to the 2019 ATP Finals as the defending champion

The season-ending ATP Finals features the season's best eight players in a round-robin format followed by a semifinal and final, and is widely considered the fifth most important tournament of the year.

This year there is additional interest around the tournament as it will determine the year-end No. 1 ranking - Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal are locked in a tight battle for the top spot. Moreover, Roger Federer will be looking to salvage something out of a largely disappointing 2019 season, while tournament debutantes Daniil Medvedev, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Matteo Berrettini will be hoping to make the most of their opportunity.

23 different players have won the season-ending ATP Finals. Let us meet the last 5 players to have lifted the title at the prestigious tournament:

#5 Alexander Zverev (2018)

Alexander Zverev
Alexander Zverev

Making his second appearance at the season-ending ATP Finals in London in 2018, Alexander Zverev beat Marin Čilić and tournament debutant John Isner in straight sets while losing his lone group-stage match to Novak Djokovic.

In the semifinal, Zverev beat six-time champion Roger Federer in straights to set up a rematch with five-time champion Djokovic for the title.

Courtesy a late break in the ninth game of the set, Zverev took a one-set lead. Following an early exchange of breaks in the second, Zverev broke Djokovic for the second time in the set to seal the biggest title of his career.

In the process, Zverev became the first player to beat Federer and Djokovic at the same edition of the ATP Finals, the first player since Andre Agassi (1990) to beat the top two seeds in the semifinal and final, and the first German winner (third overall) at the tournament since Boris Becker in 1995.

#4 Grigor Dimitrov (2017)

Grigor Dimitrov celebrates his 2017 ATP Finals title
Grigor Dimitrov celebrates his 2017 ATP Finals title

Riding on a career-best season which saw him win a maiden Masters 1000 title (Cincinnati), Grigor Dimitrov qualified for the prestigious season-ending 2017 ATP Finals in London for the very first time in his career.

Dimtrov beat fellow tournament debutant David Goffin, Roland Garros semifinalist Dominic Thiem and Rafael Nadal's alternate, Pablo Carreño Busta in the group-stage before beating another tournament debutant, Jack Sock, in the semifinals to book a rematch with Goffin for the title.

In a competitive final, Dimitrov won the first set but Goffin, who had beaten six-time champion Roger Federer in the semifinals, fought back to force a third set. The Bulgarian though soon re-asserted his ascendancy over Goffin to take home the biggest title of his career.

The win made Dimitrov the 22nd different player to triumph at the ATP Finals and the 11th unbeaten winner at the tournament. The Bulgarian rose to a career-high World No. 3 to close the season.

#3 Andy Murray (2016)

Andy Murray
Andy Murray

2016 was a career-best season for Andy Murray. The Scot made title matches at the Australian Open and French Open (lost to Djokovic both times), won his second Masters 1000 title on clay at Rome and his 3rd Grand Slam singles title at Wimbledon. He followed that with a successful title defence at the 2016 Rio Olympics, before going on a tear after the US Open.

Murray raked up consecutive titles in Beijing, Shanghai, Vienna and Paris to become the first British player to climb atop the world rankings.

The year-end ATP ranking was on the line as Murray entered the season-ending 2016 ATP Finals (then called the ATP World Tour Finals). The Scot beat Kei Nishikori, Stan Wawrinka and Marin Cilic to top his group.

In a rematch of the year's Wimbledon title match, Murray conquered Milos Raonic in a third set-break in the semifinals to set up a title showdown with four-time defending champion Novak Djokovic - in a match which would determine the destination of the year-end No. 1 ranking.

Meeting the Serb for the fifth time in a tournament final (Djokovic led 3-1), Murray won 6-4 6-4 to become the newest year-end No.1 player in the singles rankings, and the oldest winner at the ATP Finals since Roger Federer in 2011.

#2 Novak Djokovic (2008, 2012-15)

Novak Djokovic celebrates his 2015 ATP Finals title
Novak Djokovic celebrates his 2015 ATP Finals title

In a dominant 2015 season, the Serb become the first player since Roger Federer (2009) to make the final at all four Grand Slam tournaments while also winning a record 6 Masters 1000 titles from a record 8 finals in the season.

Making his ninth consecutive appearance at the ATP Finals, Djokovic's 15-match winning streak at the tournament came to an end at the hands of Roger Federer in the second robin match. Nevertheless, the Serb ended as the group runner-up and beat Rafael Nadal in the semifinals to set up a rematch with Federer for the title.

Following victories over the Swiss maestro in 4 out of 6 title matches in the season (Indian Wells, Rome, Wimbledon, US Open), Djokovic emerged victorious in straight sets to become the first player in the tournament's history to win 4 consecutive titles.

#1 Roger Federer (2003-04, 2006-07, 2010-11)

Roger Federer hoists aloft his record-sixth ATP Finals title in 2011
Roger Federer hoists aloft his record-sixth ATP Finals title in 2011

Roger Federer holds many records at the ATP Finals: most appearances (17), most matches (72), most wins (57), most finals (10), most titles (6) and most semifinals (15).

Making his 10th consecutive appearance at the ATP Finals in 2011, Federer beat Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Rafael Nadal and Mardy Fish in the group stage, to make his 9th consecutive semifinal at the tournament. There, he beat David Ferrer in straight sets to set up a rematch with Tsonga for the title.

Playing his 3rd match with the Frenchman in the space of two weeks (2011 Paris Masters final, 2011 ATP Finals round-robin), Federer beat Tsonga in three sets to become the first 6-time champion at the ATP Finals.

In the process, the then 30-year-old Federer became the oldest player to triumph at the season-finale tournament.

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