Who Is The Most Boring ATP No. 1 Of All Time?

The GOAT debates have been entertaining and challenging tennis observers for years. That discussion has been settled and ended by the incomparable achievements by Novak Djokovic to the point that even Federer and Nadal have submitted and passed the crown.

Now that the GOAT debate is over, a void has been created and a new topic needs to be examined. How about “the most boring ATP no. 1 of all time”?

Back in the day Pete Sampras was criticized as boring by many fans and media. Ivan Lendl didn’t agree with that misportrayal of his frequent training partner and publicly defended Pistol Pete. ‘It is sickening that someone who is down to earth, polite, behaves well, is reasonably clever and wears nice clothes almost has to apologize for being the way he is,’ said Lendl of Sampras.

Pete was the quintessential tennis player, inspired by the old Australian standard of class and sportsmanship exhibited by Laver, Newcombe, Rosewall, Stolle. Compared to the flamboyant Andre Agassi, maybe Pete was Joe Frazier and George Foreman to Muhammad Ali but Pete’s domination of Agassi in Grand Slams and head to head settled the score.

I never considered Sampras boring, he was poetry in motion on court and his serve was the biggest weapon in tennis history. He also was truculent in press conferences if posed with a silly question. Pete also created two of the most dramatic moments in Grand Slam history – the Corretja match at US Open and the Courier marathon at AO. Those unforgettable details don’t need to be repeated.

Covering pro tennis since the 90s, no no. 1 player ever struck me as boring until now.

Jannik Sinner seems more robotic than human and I can’t recall ever seeing any interesting emotions expressed by him on court. There was one afternoon match on an outer court in Miami a few years ago when he acted out of character and showed positive emotion and fighting spirit but that was the only time. Maybe it was an experiment. I can’t even remember who it was against or if he won.

Sinner’s interviews all seem scripted, he only seems to be allowed to say cliches and basic pre-prepared sentences, never anything surprising, original or unpredictable. On top of that he even looks like a mannequin. To be honest, I’m not totally certain he is actually a human being and not some kind of robot or science creation.

Yes, Sinner is a tennis wrecking machine and it is impressive how he conquers everyone now. But you have to wonder if his dominance is artificial and aided by something underneath the surface which those two positive drug tests earlier this year uncovered. Since that controversy and the added scrutiny, Sinner has continued to play devastating tennis however his personality and emotions are even more contained.

Maybe Sinner is just an introvert and not comfortable being a global superstar living under the media microscope. Maybe over time Sinner will come out of his shell and start to say some interesting things and show some emotions on court. Maybe over time, Sinner will suddenly break out of his chains and break dance on court or sing “My Way” after his next Grand Slam win.

But until then, Sinner is the most boring no. 1 of all time – and quite possibly the most boring elite champion from any sport in history.

Jannik Sinner

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