Lleyton Hewitt defeated Sébastien Grosjean in the final, 6–3, 6–3, 6–4 to win the singles tennis title at the 2001 Tennis Masters Cup. With his round-robin victory against Pat Rafter, Hewitt secured the year-end world No. 1 ranking for the first time. Gustavo Kuerten and Andre Agassi were in contention for the number 1 ranking before the tournament.