Novak Djokovic has now spent a total of 378 weeks at the top of the world rankings, according to the ATP Rankings for the main international men’s tennis tour released on Monday, February 27. The Serb was the absolute record signing there, ahead of German Steffi Graf, whose career stretched from 1982 to 1999 and accumulated 377 weeks.
Denied much of last year for not being vaccinated against Covid-19, the player regained his crown with a victory over Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas at the Australian Open in January. In 2011, he made his debut at No. 1 in the world after beating Spain’s Rafael Nadal to win his first Wimbledon title.
2017 white year
Since then, Novak Djokovic has broken multiple records. He has been ranked No. 1 in the world at least once in every season except 2017 since 2011 (ATP rankings are updated weekly). In 2021, he also becomes the oldest world No. 1 person to complete a year in the rankings, at 34 years and seven months.
The Serb may soon win over others: he is the longest to finish No. 1 – he’s eight seasons away from Stefan Graff’s world No. 1 record – and even the oldest to reach the top – – not far away – Roger Federer, 36 years and 10 months; “Djoko” is 35 years and 9 months.
Since he has not been vaccinated against Covid-19, he should miss the next two Masters 1000 tournaments (the most important tournament category after the Grand Slams) in Indian Wells and Miami (USA) in March. A week at the Dubai Championship.