Novak Djokovic has finished #1 for the seventh time in his career. They were 2011,2012,2014,2015,2018,2020 and now 2021. According to the Fed Ex ATP Rankings he has surpassed Pete Sampras who finished #1 six times in his career. Jimmy Connors, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer have each accomplished that five times.
Novak Djokovic was quoted:
“Obviously, it’s a thrilling sensation breaking the record of Pete Sampras, who was my childhood hero growing up, He was the one I looked up to the most, the one that got me going with tennis. At times it seems surreal to really be where I am, and I’m blessed and grateful to be in this position.”
In 49 years, only 26 players have risen to No. 1. The constellation of year-end No. 1s is only 17. Djokovic has logged the most weeks at No. 1 in ATP history, 347 and counting, followed by Federer (310) and Sampras (286).
Pete Sampras whom he passed had this to say:
“I was `The Man’ for those number of years, and he’s been `The Man’ even more so,” I think he’s been more consistent, he’s won more events, he’s got more majors. I could go on and on talking about his career. I don’t think you will see [seven year-end No. 1s] again.”
He was born in 1987 in Serbia and grew up in a war torn country and always had to be retinence to that fact at all times. He would practice the game for hours in a large Olympic swimming pool that had been converted to a tennis court. Many times he had to top practicing as the air raid sirens were going off. Goran Ivanisevic, his coach, grew up in Yugoslavia and he had this to say about his star pupil:
“Generally, all East Bloc players, they’re more hungry – I was more hungry, Especially the players from the Balkans. They are very proud. Even with all this fighting, Novak still found a way out. That’s what’s pushing him forward. That’s why he became hungry, why he became better. He wanted to do unbelievable things. Look at him now. He’s at the top of Mount Everest, taking the sunshine in a swimming pool.”
There have only been 26 tennis players to reach the #1 spot in 49 years and in that time Novak Djokovic has been #1 for 347 weeks and is still going. Federer was top for 310 weeks and Sampras comes in at 286 weeks.
In 49 years, only 26 players have risen to No. 1. The constellation of year-end No. 1s is only 17. Djokovic has logged the most weeks at No. 1 in ATP history, 347 and counting, followed by Federer (310) and Sampras (286).The 34-year-old, who won the first three majors of the season at the Australian Open, Roland Garros and Wimbledon, is now 49-6 on the season. Currently, Daniil Medvedev is ranked #2 in the world and about 2000 point behind Djokovic.
The 2022 ATP Tour schedule has currently been approved and has not been announced yet. Look for it in the next two weeks and it will be posted here.
About the author– Tom Knuppel has been writing about baseball and sports for a few decades. As an avid St. Louis Cardinals fan he began with the blog CardinalsGM. Tom is a member of the United Cardinals Bloggers and the Baseball Bloggers Alliance. He also maintains the History of Cardinals website. More recently he has been busy at KnupSolutions and the primary writer of many sports at KnupSports and adds content at Sports 2.0. Tom is a retired High School English and Speech teacher and has completed over one hundred sportsbook reviews. He also can be followed on Twitter at tknup.
