The sky is the limit for Djokovic after matching Graf, according to Rublev and Zverev

Feb 21 (Reuters) – Novak Djokovic has shown that age is not a barrier and that, at 35, he will continue to break records, younger rivals on the ATP circuit have said, as the Serbian star tries to surpass Steffi Graf as a tennis player with more weeks in the first world position.

Djokovic won his record 10th Australian Open title last month to match his great rival Rafa Nadal’s 22 Grand Slam wins and surpass Carlos Alcaraz for the top spot in the ATP rankings.

He already holds the record for weeks as men’s number one after surpassing Roger Federer’s 310-week mark in March 2021, and on Monday he began his 377th week at the top to equal Graf, a 22-time major tournament champion.

Russian Andrey Rublev, number five in the world, said that Djokovic had shown that anything is possible.

“And at 35, he can still be the best player in the world and break records,” Rublev, 25, who lost to Djokovic in the Australian Open quarterfinals, said in remarks to reporters in Doha.

“If you do things right, you can perform at the highest level…age doesn’t matter. That’s what it means to me.”

Former world number two Alexander Zverev said Djokovic had shown how consistent he can be by dominating his rivals over the past decade.

However, Zverev said that seeing Graf being outplayed would be bittersweet for him.

“She’s beating Steffi, so as a German, obviously I always loved that she had that record. But the credit goes to Novak, I think that shows how great he is,” said Zverev, who is 25.

“I’m sure he’s going to break a few more records. I’m not sure there are many left, but the ones that are left, maybe he will.”

Djokovic returns to action in Dubai later this month.

(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru; editing in Spanish by Flora Gómez)