TEL AVIV — On October 15, 1983, 16-year-old Aaron Krickstein defeated Christoph Zipf 7-6, 6-3 in the final of the Tel Aviv Open to become the youngest player ever to win an ATP Tour title. At 16 years and two months old, the American made history in just his sixth appearance in a pro event, a record that remained intact almost 40 years later.
Krickstein, born in 1967, was one of the first prodigies raised at the Nick Bollettieri Academy in Florida alongside Jimmy Arias. In 1983 he swept the US National 18s titles in the Indoor, Clay and National categories before breaking through on the ATP Tour at the US Open. There he beat Stefan Edberg 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 4-6, 7-6 and world No. 16 Vitas Gerulaitis 3-6, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 to become the youngest player ever to reach the fourth round of a Grand Slam, where he lost to Roland-Garros champion and world No. 4 Yannick Noah 6-3, 7-6, 6-3.
The Tel Aviv Open, established in 1978 and won in its first two editions by Tom Okker, was not held in 1982 but returned to the Grand Prix schedule in 1983. Krickstein entered as a known prospect and beat world No. 24 Henrik Sundstrom 6-3, 1-0 ret. in the first round to emerge as a tournament favorite. Zipf, born in 1962, was a former U-18 European champion in 1979 who also reached the quarterfinals of the boys event at Wimbledon that year but had yet to qualify for the main draw of a Grand Slam by the end of 1983. Both men were playing their first ATP final, and Krickstein mastered his nerves to close out the straight-set win.
Despite a career plagued by injuries, Krickstein went on to win nine titles and climb to world No. 6 in 1990, months after his best Grand Slam result, a semifinal run at the 1989 US Open where he lost to Boris Becker 6-4, 6-3, 6-4. He is best remembered for his epic five-set loss to Jimmy Connors on Labour Day at the 1991 US Open, where he led 2-1 in sets and 5-2 in the fifth before falling in a tiebreaker, a match replayed for years during rain delays. His final appearance on the ATP Tour came in 1996.