March 19, 1999
By J. Fred Sidhu
Indian Wells, Ca. - Despite his loss to Mark Philippoussis in the finals of last week's Newsweek Champions Cup, Carlos Moya became the number one player in the world when he defeated Gustavo Kuerten of Brazil, 6-3, 1-6, 6-1 in semifinals.
Moya became the only the fifteenth player ever to be ranked number one in the ATP Tour rankings.
Entering the tournament ranked number four, Moya accumulated enough points with his semifinal victory to jump ahead of Pete Sampras, who lost to Felix Mantilla here in the second round. Sampras had held the top spot for 29 straight weeks and a total of 262 weeks during his career.
"It (the number one ranking) means a lot for me," Moya said following his victory over Kuerten. "At least for this week I'm going to be King of the World.''
The 22-year-old Spaniard won the 1998 French Open and was a finalist at last year's ATP Tour World Championships in Hannover, Germany.
"I though winning a Grand Slam was the most important thing I could ever make,'' Moya said. "Then I lost the final in Hannover. It was the most disappointing day of my life. Now I think this (no. 1 ranking) is the most important (accomplishment). Even more than a Grand Slam or World Championship final because there have been only 14 number one's in the world.''
Moya will have little time to rest and enjoy his new ranking as the The Lipton Championships began yesterday in Key Biscayne, Florida.
The winner of the tournament will earn 370 points ranking points. The top five players are currently within 369 points of each other.
Depending on the outcome of the tournament, Pete Sampras of the United States; Yevgeny Kafelnikov of Russia; Alex Corretja of Spain and Patrick Rafter of Australia all have a chance to capture the number one ranking.
Players Who Have Been Ranked Number One
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