Novak Djokovic broke the record for the longest time as number one in the professional tennis rankings in both branches, beginning his 378th week at the top of the ATP rankings on Monday and thus surpassing the 377 with which Steffi Graf leads the WTA.
The Serb already held the men’s record when he eclipsed Roger Federer’s old ATP mark of 310 weeks in March 2021.
“Of course I am flattered. Extremely proud and happy for this achievement,” Djokovic said in a video posted on social media, in which he referred to Graf as “one of the greatest and most legendary tennis players.”
After Djokovic and Graf on the historical list for the most weeks as number one appear Martina Navratilova, with 232, and Serena Williams, with 319, followed by Federer. Computerized rankings began to be compiled in the 1970s.
Novak Djokovic has finished first on the ATP for seven, another men’s tennis record.
At 35, the Serbian tennis player returned to the top, after winning the Australian Open champion in January. He jumped from the fifth step to displace Carlos Alcaraz. That title was Djokovic’s 22nd at a Grand Slam tournament and he tied Rafael Nadal for the men’s all-time record.
Djokovic is 12-0 in 2023 and is competing this week in Dubai, his first tournament since the victory in Melbourne.
He managed to climb to the top of the rankings despite missing a handful of big tournaments in 2022, including the Australian Open and the US Open, due to not having been vaccinated against Covid-19. Djokovic participated in Melbourne Park this year because the host country relaxed its pandemic protocols. His presence in two major events in the United States in March (the Indian Wells and Miami Masters) is in question, and he has requested a permit to enter the country.
Djokovic was also unable to score points for catching the Wimbledon title, as no points were awarded in that edition. Both tours declined to award points in response to the All England Club’s decision to ban players from Russia and Belarus from participating as a result of the invasion of Ukraine. It is not yet known if those players will be able to attend Wimbledon this year.
Alcaraz, the 19-year-old Spaniard who was crowned at the last US Open, remains in second place in the ranking, followed by the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas and the Norwegian Casper Ruud. Taylor Fritz moved up two places to finish fifth, a career high that makes him the first American to make the top five since Andy Roddick in 2009.
Nadal, out of play since suffering a left hip injury at the Australian Open, dropped two places and entered eighth on Monday.
The WTA ranking was unchanged in her top 10, with Poland’s Iga Swiatek taking number one by a wide margin. She is escorted by the Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka, brand new champion of the Australian Open.
Barbora Krejcikova, the Czech who won the Roland Garros scepter in 2021 and who beat Swiatek in the Dubai final on Saturday, jumped from 30th to 16th place.
