It’s official – reigning world number one Novak Djokovic is now the record holder of the longest reign at the top of men’s tennis and it will keep on running considering that he has a significant lead over the rest of the field.
Fresh from winning his 9th Australian Open title, Djokovic was already projected to break the record as early as last year. However, the pandemic has led to a rankings freeze from March 23 to August 20, 2020 which means those weeks were not counted on the tally.
Nevertheless, the Serbian will go on to rise above the rest, overtaking previous holder Roger Federer (310 weeks).
“It really excites me to walk the path of legends and giants of this sport,” said Djokovic. “To know that I earned my place among them by following my childhood dream is a beautiful confirmation that when you do things out of love and passion, everything is possible.”
- Novak Djokovic (SRB) (311 weeks, 123 consecutive weeks)
- Roger Federer (SUI) (310 weeks, 237 consecutive weeks)
- Pete Sampras (USA) (286 weeks, 102 consecutive weeks)
- Ivan Lendl (CZE) (270 weeks, 157 consecutive weeks)
- Jimmy Connors (USA) (268 weeks, 160 consecutive weeks)
Congratulations Novak Djokovic!
