Photo: Clive Brunskill/Getty Images
Novak Djokovic earned the world No. 1 ranking on Monday for the 378th week of his career, passing Steffi Graf for the most all-time by any tennis player, man or woman.
The backdrop: He returned to the top spot five weeks ago after winning the Australian Open, tying Rafael Nadal's all-time men's mark of 22 majors. It was his first time back at No. 1 since last June.
"It's surreal to be that many weeks No. 1 ... Just being amongst these legendary names is flattering. I'm proud of it."— Djokovic
The top 5:
- Djokovic: 378 weeks
- Graf: 377
- Martina Navratilova: 332
- Serena Williams: 319
- Roger Federer: 310
The big picture: Djokovic first reached No. 1 at age 24 on July 4, 2011, the day after beating Nadal in the Wimbledon final for his third grand slam, and first at the All England Club.
- It was actually Nadal's spot that he took atop the list that day, and since then the Spaniard has spent "only" 107 weeks at No. 1 (of 209 total), compared to Djokovic's 378.
- Federer, who amassed most of his 310 weeks at the top in the 2000s — including a record 237 consecutive weeks from 2004-08 — has been No. 1 for just 25 weeks since Djokovic debuted there.
What to watch: Djokovic's first test after setting this record is the Dubai Championships, in which he'll face qualifier Tomáš Macháč today in the round of 32.