2002 ATP Tour


The 2002 ATP Tour was the global elite men's professional tennis circuit organised by the Association of Tennis Professionals for the 2002 tennis season. The ATP Tour is the elite tour for professional tennis organised by the ATP. The ATP Tour includes the four Grand Slam tournaments, the Tennis Masters Cup, the ATP Masters Series, the International Series Gold and the International Series tournaments.
This season marked the most recent occasion where eight different men appeared in the four Grand Slam men's singles finals|major singles finals] of a calendar year.

Season summary

The season saw Pete Sampras win his 14th Grand Slam singles title, breaking his own record of 13 in the process, by defeating longtime rival Andre Agassi 6–3, 6–4, 5–7, 6–4 in the final of the US Open – Men's singles|US Open]. This would be Sampras’s last tournament before retirement with him officially announcing his retirement at the next year's US Open. Sampras finished up with a 20–14 lead over Agassi in head to head, ending a rivalry that defined the 1990’s and early 2000’s in tennis.
Young Australian Lleyton Hewitt ended the year No. 1 for the second season in a row, having captured his second Grand Slam title at Wimbledon Championships – Men's singles|Wimbledon] by defeating David Nalbandian in a crushing straight set victory. Hewitt captured 5 titles in 2002 overall, including winning the title at the Indian Wells Masters and then successfully defending the title at the 2002 Tennis [Masters Cup – Singles|Tennis Masters Cup] by defeating Juan Carlos Ferrero 7–5, 7–5, 2–6, 2–6, 6–4 in the final.
Despite not winning a Grand Slam in 2002, Andre Agassi would win multiple ATP [Masters 1000 tournaments|ATP Masters Series] events by capturing the title in Miami, Rome and at the first edition of the Madrid Masters. He won 5 titles overall throughout 2002 and ended the year ranked world No. 2. Swede Thomas Johansson won his maiden and only Grand Slam title by defeating Marat Safin in the final of the Australian Open – Men's singles|Australian Open] from a set down 3–6, 6–4, 6–4, 7–6. The tournament had been rife with upsets that saw no top 6 seed reach the quarterfinals and saw both top 2 seeds Lleyton Hewitt and Gustavo Kuerten lose in their first round matches. Albert Costa also became a maiden Grand Slam champion after he defeated fellow Spaniard Juan Carlos Ferrero 6–1, 6–0, 4–6, 6–3 in the final of the French Open – Men's singles|French Open]. Like Johansson, he would also never win another Grand Slam title after this.
2002 saw the emergence of future 20-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer as a top 10 player. The young Swiss won his first Masters Series title in 2002 [Hamburg Masters – Singles|Hamburg] by defeating Marat Safin in the final in straight sets. Federer would go on to end the year as world no. 6. Safin would also have a strong season, bouncing back inside the top 3 after dropping out of the top 10 of the ATP rankings in 2001. Having reached the Australian Open final, Safin would reach the semifinals of the French Open and win the Paris Masters. Youngster Juan Carlos Ferrero also solidified himself as a top player, ending the year inside the top 5 for the second season in a row. Jiří Novák, Tim Henman, Albert Costa and Andy Roddick rounded out the year-end top 10.
Russia [Davis Cup team|Russia] won the 2002 Davis Cup title after beating France 3–2. Mikhail Youzhny defeated Paul-Henri Mathieu from 2 sets down in the final rubber to give Russia their first Davis Cup title.

Schedule

The table below shows the 2002 ATP Tour schedule.
;Key
Grand Slam
Tennis Masters Cup
Tennis Masters Series
ATP International Series Gold
ATP International Series
Team Events

August

Statistical information

List of players and titles won, listed in order of most titles won:
The following players won their first title:
Titles won by nation:
  • Spain 10
  • United States 10
  • Argentina 8
  • Australia 5
  • France 5
  • Russia 4
  • Chile 3
  • Morocco 3
  • Sweden 3
  • Switzerland 3
  • United Kingdom 3
  • Italy 2
  • Thailand 2
  • Brazil 1
  • Denmark 1
  • Ecuador 1
  • Germany 1
  • Netherlands 1

Retirements

Following is a list of notable players or top 50 who announced their retirement from professional tennis, became inactive, or were permanently banned from playing, during the 2002 season:
  • Karim Alami He turned professional in 1990 and reached his career-high ranking of no. 25 in 2000. He earned two career singles titles and one doubles title. He played his last career match in Trani, Italy in August against Potito Starace.
  • Sergi Bruguera He turned professional in 1988 and reached a career-high ranking of world no. 3. He won the French Open in 1993 and 1994 and was a semifinalist at the year-end finals in 1994. He won a silver medal at the 1996 Olympics. In doubles, he earned 3 titles and achieved a career-high ranking of world no. 49, reaching the quarterfinals of the US Open. He played his last career match in Segovia in July against Lovro Zovko.
  • Magnus Gustafsson He turned professional in 1986 and reached his career-high ranking of world no. 10 in 1991. He reached the quarterfinals of the Australian Open in 1994 and earned 14 career titles. His last match was in Stockholm in October 2001 against Jan Vacek.
  • Cédric Pioline He turned professional in 1989 and reached a career-high ranking of no. 5. He was a finalist at the US Open in 1993 and at Wimbledon in 1997. He also won one Masters 1000 in Monte Carlo in 2000. He played his last match in October in Basel against Tim Henman.
  • Patrick Rafter He turned professional in 1991 and reached a ranking of world no. 1 in 1999. He won the US Open in 1997 and 1998 and was a finalist at Wimbledon and a semifinalist at the Australian Open and French Open. He won 11 career ATP titles. He played his last match in Davis Cup competition in November 2001 against France.
  • Pete Sampras Sampras debuted on the professional tour in 1988 and played his last top-level tournament in 2002 when he won the US Open, defeating rival Andre Agassi in the final. He was the year-end world no. 1 for six consecutive years and won seven Wimbledon singles championships.
  • Jan Siemerink He turned professional in 1989 and reached his career-high ranking of no. 14 in 1998. He reached the quarterfinals of Wimbledon in 1998 and earned four career singles titles. In doubles, he was ranked no. 16 in 1996 and earned 10 career titles. He played his last match in Valencia, Spain in May partnering Dennis van Scheppingen.