Success at the season-ending championships, even for those who have triumphed at a major, offers bragging rights among an elite cohort, an exclamation mark on a banner year, plus a hefty pay packet.
For some it proves the key to unlocking Grand Slam-winning potential, while for others, it ultimately stands as their crowning achievement.
World No.1 Alexander Zverev finally added a pair of major trophies to his collection this year, some four-and-a-half years after the second of his two ATP Finals titles.
It left just three active players – Stefanos Tsitsipas, Elina Svitolina and Grigor Dimitrov – as the only others to have saluted as tour finals champions while still chasing the same heights at a major. At age 32, Svitolina has returned to the elite eight-player event, currently competing at the 2026 edition of the WTA Finals this week in Indian Wells.
Seven other tour finals champions have ended their career without a singles Slam.
1. Stefanos Tsitsipas
In his only appearance at the season-ending finals in London in 2019, former world No.3 Stefanos Tsitsipas snuck past future US Open champion Dominic Thiem in a third-set tiebreak for the biggest title of his career to date.
It made the Greek – who beat Roger Federer in the semifinals – the youngest season finale champion since Lleyton Hewitt in 2001 and as recently as last year, he paid tribute to the magnitude of his achievement.
“Six years ago, I experienced my greatest joy as a tennis player, winning the ATP Finals on my debut,” he posted on X. “It was especially beautiful sharing the stage with Domi, my best friend on tour. The high may have worn off, but I will do everything to ride it again.”
2. Elina Svitolina
Form, or lack thereof, on the eve of her second straight WTA Finals showing gave no indication of the tear then-24-year-old Elina Svitolina was about to embark on in Singapore.
A late qualifier for the field of eight, the Ukrainian had fallen early in two Asian events before withdrawing from two indoor tournaments in Europe.
Seeded sixth, Svitolina went unbeaten in the group stage, where she snapped a seven-match losing streak to Petra Kvitova before wins over Karolina Pliskova and defending champion Caroline Wozniacki.
Three-set victories over Kiki Bertens and Sloane Stephens sealed the biggest title of her career.
“I think I have nothing to prove anymore to anyone,” Svitolina said. “It’s definitely a good statement for myself and good boost of – I can't say confidence, because I try to always have confidence in myself. To have it is my personality.”
3. Grigor Dimitrov
Having slipped as low as world No.40 just a year before, Grigor Dimitrov turned his fortunes around in 2017 with the help of Dani Vallverdu as coach.
The pinnacle came at the ATP Finals in London when the Bulgarian became the first debutant since Alex Corretja in 1998 to go all the way. Undefeated in five matches, he saw off giant-slaying Belgian David Goffin – who posted wins over Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal – in a three-set final.
“If you want to be up at the top, there's no shortcuts,” said Dimitrov, who rose to a career-best world No.3. “I'm fully dedicated. This year I think I've done a lot of work on that. I sacrificed days that I should have probably had off, maybe go to a little vacation here and there. Now it pays off.”
4. Caroline Garcia
A former world No.4, Caroline Garcia had shouldered heavy French hopes for much of her career and finally secured her crowning achievement in 2022 at age 29.
Following her sole Grand Slam singles semifinal at Flushing Meadows, two months later Garcia became just the second Frenchwoman after Amelie Maursemo to land the WTA Finals title – this despite her coach Bertrand Perret quitting a week before the tournament.
While world No.1 Iga Swiatek had her measure in the group stage in Fort Worth, United States, Garcia posted wins over Coco Gauff and Daria Kasatkina to advance before victories over Maria Sakkari and seventh seed Aryna Sabalenka for the silverware.
“It’s definitely a lot of giant happiness,” Garcia said. “A crazy final, a lot of intensity on every point. Just really proud of the work we did through all the year.”
5. Nikolay Davydenko
A quiet and consistent achiever comfortable in the shadows of the Big Three, Nikolay Davydenko sounded his intentions with a run to the title match before his loss to Novak Djokovic at the then-named Masters Cup in 2008.
A year later in London, after falling to Djokovic in his opening round-robin match, he reeled off four straight wins over Roland Garros finalist Robin Soderling and all that season’s major champions – world No.2 Nadal, world No.1 Federer and world No.5 Juan Martin del Potro.
“For me it was amazing coming here No.7 and winning the tournament. I surprised myself,” he said.
Despite claiming 21 career titles from 28 finals and owning a 6-5 record over Nadal, Davydenko never reached a Slam final.
6. Dominika Cibulkova
The first Slovak woman to reach a Slam final at AO 2014, when she succumbed to Li Na, Dominika Cibulkova packed plenty of punch for her mere 160cm stature.
The pinnacle came two seasons later, when she denied world No.1 and that season’s Australian and US Opens winner, Angelique Kerber, for the 2016 WTA Finals in Singapore.
It came via an unlikely recovery from 0-2 in her group-stage matches.
“They underestimated me,” Cibulkova said of her detractors after she became just the fourth woman after Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova and Petra Kvitova to claim the trophy on debut. “I think I was always brave with my height. I was just maybe stubborn and brave. I really wanted to play tennis. Nobody could tell me different.”
7. David Nalbandian
Former world No.3 David Nalbandian had his bags packed to set off on a fishing trip to Patagonia when he received the late call-up to the 2005 Tennis Masters Cup (now ATP Finals) following Andy Roddick’s withdrawal.
The only Argentine man to reach the semifinals or better at all four Grand Slam events, he remains one of the greatest men’s players never to have secured a major title. Despite the last-minute trip to Shanghai, Nalbandian rebounded from a group-stage defeat to Federer to snap the Swiss great’s 35-match winning streak from two sets down in a fifth-set tiebreak in the final.
“I surprised the world. He [Federer] almost never loses,” Nalbandian said. “To come back from two sets down against the world No.1, with his record, it is just incredible.”
8. Agnieszka Radwanska
Heading into her fifth WTA Finals appearance in Singapore in 2015, Agnieszka Radwanska had not beaten a top-five opponent all year.
The odds of breaking that trend weren’t looking bright after the 2012 Wimbledon finalist, who climbed as high as world No.2 that year, lost her first two group matches. Yet after adjusting to the conditions and the surface, the Pole toppled world No.2 Simona Halep, No.3 Garbine Muguruza and No.5 Petra Kvitova in succession.
“Unbelievable. I didn't really expect this at all, especially the beginning of the year it was not great,” Radwanska said. “I think the good sentence is to do it here: Doesn't matter how you start, matters how you end.”
9. Alex Corretja
Defeat often has a way of galvanising resolve if opportunity comes knocking again and two losses in particular helped steel Alex Corretja for his crowning achievement in Hannover, Germany in 1998.
Match point had gone begging against Pete Sampras in the US Open 1996 quarterfinals, but the Spaniard flipped the script when he saved three match points to deny the world No.1 in the semifinals of the then-named ATP Tour World Championships.
In an all-Spanish final, the 24-year-old recovered from a two-set deficit to edge past Carlos Moya 7-5 in the fifth. Corretja had lost to his compatriot in straight sets in his first Grand Slam final at Roland Garros that year.
“My experience at Roland Garros helped me to not stay satisfied with what I had already achieved,” Corretja told atptour.com on the 25th anniversary of his triumph.
He remains one of only two Spaniards to have won the tour finals after Manuel Orantes in 1976.
10. Sylvia Hanika
With a Roland Garros and Wimbledon title to her name already in 1982, Martina Navratilova was expected to dominate the Avon Championships (now WTA Finals) at Madison Square Garden that year.
The Czech-born American had won 24 straight matches and her biggest rivals that year – Chris Evert, Tracy Austin, Andrea Jaeger and Hana Mandlikova – were all absent.
Yet a left-handed German, Sylvia Hanika, was the unexpected spoiler in New York. Hanika, whose standout result was a runner-up finish at Roland Garros to Mandlikova in 1981, stunned Navratilova in three sets for the greatest win of her career.
“It was not a matter of luck. I made good shots and good points,” said Hannika, who won six singles titles and reached a career-high world No.5 in 1983.