Men's Singles
The International Tennis Federation's (ITF) choices for men's singles have been generally approved by tennis fans and the tennis media except in 1990 when the designation of Ivan Lendl was strongly criticized by those who claimed that the ITF was punishing Stefan Edberg for criticizing the Grand Slam Cup. That year, the Association of Tennis Professionals named Edberg its "Player of The Year", in accordance with its computer ranking system, and Tennis Magazine (France) ranked Edberg first, Andre Agassi second, and Lendl third. Other instances when the ITF choices differed from the ATP rankings, usually with less controversy, are 1978 (Jimmy Connors), 1982 (John McEnroe), and 1989 (Lendl).
| Year | Player | Nationality |
| 1978 | Björn Borg | Sweden |
| 1979 | Björn Borg (2) | Sweden |
| 1980 | Björn Borg (3) | Sweden |
| 1981 | John McEnroe | United States |
| 1982 | Jimmy Connors | United States |
| 1983 | John McEnroe (2) | United States |
| 1984 | John McEnroe (3) | United States |
| 1985 | Ivan Lendl | Czechoslovakia |
| 1986 | Ivan Lendl (2) | Czechoslovakia |
| 1987 | Ivan Lendl (3) | Czechoslovakia |
| 1988 | Mats Wilander | Sweden |
| 1989 | Boris Becker | West Germany |
| 1990 | Ivan Lendl (4) | Czechoslovakia |
| 1991 | Stefan Edberg | Sweden |
| 1992 | Jim Courier | United States |
| 1993 | Pete Sampras | United States |
| 1994 | Pete Sampras (2) | United States |
| 1995 | Pete Sampras (3) | United States |
| 1996 | Pete Sampras (4) | United States |
| 1997 | Pete Sampras (5) | United States |
| 1998 | Pete Sampras (6) | United States |
| 1999 | Andre Agassi | United States |
| 2000 | Gustavo Kuerten | Brazil |
| 2001 | Lleyton Hewitt | Australia |
| 2002 | Lleyton Hewitt (2) | Australia |
| 2003 | Andy Roddick | United States |
| 2004 | Roger Federer | Switzerland |
| 2005 | Roger Federer (2) | Switzerland |
| 2006 | Roger Federer (3) | Switzerland |
| 2007 | Roger Federer (4) | Switzerland |
| 2008 | Rafael Nadal | Spain |
| 2009 | Roger Federer (5) | Switzerland |
| 2010 | Rafael Nadal (2) | Spain |
| 2011 | Novak Djokovic | Serbia |
| 2012 | Novak Djokovic (2) | Serbia |
Read more about this topic: ITF World Champions
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