Facts & Stats

Novak Djokovic kicks off milestone 333rd career week at No. 1

He already has the record for most weeks at No. 1 in ATP rankings history—this week, he moves up to second place in either ATP or WTA rankings history.

ByJohn Berkok

Published Aug 09, 2021

A day after Roger Federer became just the second 40-something to rank in the Top 10 in ATP or WTA rankings history, Novak Djokovic achieves another big milestone for the Big 3—the Serb, who already has the record for most weeks at No. 1 in ATP rankings history, now has the second-most weeks at No. 1 in either ATP or WTA rankings history.

Djokovic kicks off his 333rd career week at No. 1 on the ATP rankings today, surpassing Martina Navratilova’s 332 career weeks at No. 1 on the WTA rankings.

Now only one player, male or female, has spent more career weeks at No. 1 on either the ATP or WTA rankings than Djokovic: Steffi Graf.

TOP 10 MOST CAREER WEEKS AT NO. 1 IN ATP OR WTA RANKINGS HISTORY
377: Steffi Graf
333: Novak Djokovic
332: Martina Navratilova
319: Serena Williams
310: Roger Federer
286: Pete Sampras
270: Ivan Lendl
268: Jimmy Connors
260: Chris Evert
209: Rafael Nadal, Martina Hingis

The first official ATP rankings were published on August 23, 1973, while the official WTA rankings began the week of November 3, 1975.

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Djokovic would pass Graf's record of 377 career weeks at No. 1 next June if he hangs onto the top spot until then.

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Given what he’s achieved in 2021, Djokovic could easily keep piling on the weeks well into 2022. He’s won the Australian Open, Roland Garros and Wimbledon this year, the first man to sweep the first three majors of the year since Rod Laver in 1969.

And given three different players made it to those three major finals alongside him this year—Daniil Medvedev, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Matteo Berrettini—the Serb has been the only one consistently picking up the biggest point hauls at the biggest events. Because of that, he currently has a 1,893-point lead over Medvedev on the ATP rankings, and a 2,510-point lead over Tsitsipas on the ATP year-to-date race.

Even more daunting: Djokovic has a lot of room to add points in the coming months. The two biggest events the rest of the year are the US Open and the ATP Finals—he’s only defending 180 points in New York (he would earn 2,000 with the title there), and he’ll only be defending 400 points at the season-ending championships in Turin, Italy (he could earn 1,500 points with an unbeaten run to the title there).

Graf’s record of 377 weeks at No. 1 seems far away, but it’s entirely reachable.

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