It cost Mats Wilander an almost perfect season to finally reach no. 1 in the PIF ATP ranking. After conquering his third big title of 1988 in the US Open, the Swede hit the great rival Ivan Lendl of his 157-week reign to make his number 1 debut on September 12 of that year.
For a large part of the 1980s, Wilander had been an eternal competition, but despite the growing list of performance, he had never reached the top. All of that changed after a striking year in which he scooped three Grand Slam titles.
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The then 23-year-old was already a four-time big winner and the world no. 3 on the way to the 1988 season, but Lendl remained strong at the top. After a strong start of the year, but emphasized by hard titles in the Australian Open and in the Biscayne key, Wilander moved at a moving distance at number 2.
Known for his versatility over all surfaces, Wilander then supplied a master class on the clay in Roland Garros, where he secured his sixth large crown. His momentum was detained with a quarter-final exit in Wimbledon, but he quickly regained the shape during the North American Hardcourt Swing, which formed the stage of a dramatic confrontation in New York.
Both Wilander and Lendl came in the US open that year in red -hot form, fresh of titles in Cincinnati and Toronto respectively. Their Lexus ATP Head2head series was divided early, but Lendl had taken control of their New York collision and won six consecutive encounters.
Both stars their way through the draw for a long -awaited final, which doubled as a straight battle for the number 1 place. Wilander finally prevailed in a dramatic four hours, 54 minutes, five set of final, which confirmed his rise to number 1 in the PIF ATP ranking for the first time.
“I felt like I was the best player in the world in 1988, but once I got number 1 with a real ranking, I actually had a shocking four months … I think I was just terrible about dealing with that pressure,” Wilander Atptour.com said in 2020.
Wilander held the number 1 place for 20 weeks, including his only ATP end of the year 1 presented by PIF Finish in 1988. The Swede gave it back to Lendl in January 1989 after a Barnstorming Run to his Maiden Australian Open title. Wilander never achieved the same heights in the years that followed and only claimed a title at Tour level (Itaparica, 1990) before his retirement in 1996.
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