After living in the shadows of Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer from 2004 to 2011, Novak Djokovic has been flying. This season has been particularly in focus, as he won three out of four Grand Slams, marking the fourth season in the Serbian star’s career in which he has won three Grand Slam titles.
He previously achieved this feat during remarkable seasons in 2011, 2015, and 2021. At 36, the Serbian holds the world No. 1 ranking, ahead of Spanish prodigy Carlos Alcaraz, who is 20, and Russian Daniil Medvedev, who is 27.
Djokovic matches Graf’s record as year-end world no. 1
36-year-old Novak Djokovic became the men’s player with the highest number of year-end world no.1, with his eighth coming after he defeated Holger Rune at the ATP Finals group stage game, matching the record set by Steffi Graf on the WTA Tour.
The Serbian star finished his first year-end no. 1 in 2011 and repeated it in 2012, with another pair back to back in 2014 and 2015. Andy Murray and Rafael Nadal interrupted his dominance in 2016 and 2017, respectively, but Novak Djokovic bounced back on top in 2018, 2020, 2021, and 2023.
Tennis legend Pete Sampras is his nearest challenger to Djokovic on the ATP Tour with six year-end No. 1 rankings, all in successive years from 1993 to 1998, while Jimmy Connors, Roger Federer, and Rafael Nadal have five each.
Novak Djokovic finishing No. 1 this year became ahead of Martina Navratilova, who had seven to trail Graf by one on the WTA Tour, while Serena Williams and Chris Evert rank next with five each.
Novak Djokovic celebrates 400 weeks with highest ranking
Novak Djokovic began a record-extending 400th week as No. 1 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings on Monday, 13 years after he first rose to the top, beating Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. Novak Djokovic had earlier clinched ATP Year-End No. 1 presented by Pepperstone for a record eighth time during his win over Dane Holger Rune at the Nitto ATP Finals in Turin and claimed a record-breaking seventh year-end title to welcome in his 400th week at the top in an emphatic style.
“It’s a pretty good achievement, 400 weeks at No. 1. It’s never been done in history. Someone will eventually break it, but hopefully it stays there for a long time,” Djokovic said.
After winning the Australian Open, Novak Djokovic broke Stefanie Graf’s record of 377 weeks to become the all-time leader in both men’s and women’s tennis. He surpassed Swiss legend Roger Federer’s 310-week mark in 2021 for the most weeks at No. 1 by a man.
In the all-time list of players who have spent the most weeks at No. 1, Novak Djokovic holds the first position with 400 weeks, followed by Steffi Graf with 377 weeks. Martina Navratilova sits in the third position with 332 weeks. The American legend Serena Williams takes the fourth position with 319 weeks, and Roger Federer is fifth with 310 weeks.
Novak Djokovic will have many more milestones ahead of him in 2024, as he stands as the favorite to win the Grand Slam in Melbourne. The Serbian is just two titles away from 100 career titles. With 1,086 victories, he is likely to become just the third man in history to pass the 1,100 match wins of Jimmy Connors and Roger Federer and Djokovic will look to extend his record of 24 Grand Slams, which includes 10 Australian Opens and 40 ATP Masters 1000 titles.
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