Photo: Paul ZimmerAndy Murray (GBR)
The current ATP singles top four ranked players have each won a Grand Slam singles title in 2012 but did you know that they had also all competed on the ITF Pro Circuit during their careers?
In fact, all the current ATP ranked singles players have, at some stage in their careers, competed on the ITF Pro Circuit. Of the women on the latest WTA singles rankings list, only the Williams sisters, Venus and Serena, have not seen any action on the ITF Pro Circuit.
Looking at the ATP top four players and current Grand Slam champions, world No. 1 Roger Federer won the last of his ITF Pro Circuit singles titles in November 1998 as the No. 1 seed in a Satellite tournament in his native Switzerland and then just four years and eight months later he was lifting his first Grand Slam trophy at 2003 Wimbledon.
World No. 2, Novak Djokovic, was also named as the No. 1 seed when he won his last ITF Pro Circuit singles title. This came in the then nation of Serbia and Montenegro during August 2004 and he was being crowned a Grand Slam champion for the first time just three years and five months later when he took the 2008 Australian Open title.
Olympic gold medallist Andy Murray, the world No. 3, just recently ended Great Britain’s long wait for a Grand Slam singles champion at teh 2012 US Open. Of the four current Grand Slam title holders, he had the longest wait between his last ITF Pro Circuit triumph and that first Grand Slam win. Murray was an unseeded player when he claimed his last ITF Pro Circuit singles title in Spain back in December 2004, he then had a seven years nine months wait until he became a major winner.
Like Federer and Djokovic, Rafael Nadal was the top 
seed when he lifted his last winner’s trophy on the ITF Pro Circuit. His success came at the start of December 2002 in Spain and of the four players he made the quickest leap to Grand Slam champion, winning the title at Roland Garros two years six months later in 2005.
Other Active Former Grand Slam Singles Champions
Player Name
|
Last ITF Singles Title
|
First GS Singles Title
|
Title Gap
|
|
Maria Sharapova
|
May-03
|
Jul-04
|
1yr 2mths
|
|
Petra Kvitova
|
Apr-08
|
Jul-11
|
3yrs 3mths
|
|
Svetlana Kuznetsova
|
Apr-01
|
Sep-04
|
3yrs 5mths
|
|
Ana Ivanovic
|
Sep-04
|
Jun-08
|
3yrs 9mths
|
|
Juan Carlos Ferrero
|
Feb-99
|
Jun-03
|
4yrs 4mths
|
|
Juan Martin Del Potro
|
Apr-05
|
Sep-09
|
4yrs 5mths
|
|
Victoria Azarenka
|
Jul-05
|
Jan-12
|
6yrs 6mths
|
|
Na Li
|
Oct-04
|
Jun-11
|
6yrs 8mths
|
|
Samantha Stosur
|
Oct-01
|
Sep-11
|
9yrs 11mths
|
|
Lleyton Hewitt
|
no singles title won
|
Sep-01
|
NA
|
|
Francesca Schiavone
|
no singles title won
|
Jun-10
|
NA
|
|
Serena Williams
|
Never played ITF
|
Sep-99
|
NA
|
|
Venus Williams
|
Never played ITF
|
Jul-00
|
NA
|