What a great way to start the week for Novak Djokovic (ranked third in the ATP rankings) than to return to the top of the tennis world, a place that seems to have been reserved exclusively for him. After his victory at Roland Garros over Casper Ruud (fourth classified) by 7-6 (1), 6-3 and 7-5, the Serbian tennis player will resume his position as the undisputed leader of the ranking, thus displacing Carlos Alcaraz (first classified) to second place.
This will be the 388th week that the top Grand Slam title winner finds himself in this privileged position, a place he last held on May 15, 2023, when he was eliminated in the quarterfinals of the Rome Masters 1000 by sixth-placed Holger Rune.
While Djokovic’s greatness is indisputable and backed by impressive numbers, there is something in which the Belgrade-born tennis player could envy Roger Federer and probably fail to match: the record of consecutive weeks at the top of the ATP rankings. Djokovic remained in the top spot for 122 weeks between 2014 and 2016, but this figure is far from the 237 weeks of absolute dominance that the Swiss maintained between 2004 and 2008.
However, there is another record that Djokovic could aspire to surpass: that of being the oldest tennis player to reach and maintain the No. 1 position in the world. Currently, that record also belongs to Roger Federer, who achieved it at 36 years and 10 months in 2018. Djokovic, at 36 years and 20 days, could break this historic mark only in March 2024.
On the other hand, the Serbian has in his favor the possibility of finishing a season as the oldest number 1. In 2021, he not only surpassed Pete Sampras in the record for the most times to finish the year on top (6 for Sampras and 7 for Djokovic), but also achieved this historic milestone for tennis at 34 years and 7 months.
