Novak Djokovic becomes second tennis player ever to spend 300 weeks as World No.1

At the end of what has been a rollercoaster year for him, World No.1 Novak Djokovic has crossed a historic tennis milestone and brought himself close to achieving a lifelong dream. With the ATP ranking refreshing every Monday, the Serb has now become just the second person in the history of the game to have spent 300 weeks as the ATP's No.1 Male Player. He is now chasing Roger Federer's current record of 310 weeks atop the leaderboards - a record that has stood strong since it was set on 24 June 2018. 

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Djokovic ranking record: No.1 closes in on huge Federer record

On 4 November 2012, Roger Federer fell out of the No.1 perch in the ATP rankings, having completed 302 weeks on the spot. This would be the Swiss maestro's last significant stay atop the rankings and was followed by just three more visits to the top - the last of which came in 2018. Starting the year out at No. 2, behind Rafael Nadal, Djokovic earned his fifth stint at the top spot after he claimed his 8th Australian Open - and 17th Grand Slam title - early in 2020.

The truncated year allowed the No.1 to keep his points from his last year, as well as add to them with wins in Dubai, Cincinnati and Rome as well as from participating at the French Open, Vienna 250 and the ATP Tour Finals. Ending the year with 12030 points, Djokovic will only have to maintain his position while at the Australian Open next year to break Federer's record. If all goes to plan, Djokovic should claim his record on March 8, 2021. 

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“This is one of my two biggest professional goals,” Djokovic had said earlier this year when asked about the imminent milestone. “To reach the record of, [and] surpass Roger's record for longest [time at] No. 1 and win as many [Grand] Slams as possible. I have been saying that before, so I'm working towards that. I'm at a good place right now, in a good position. Hopefully, I can stay healthy and continue to play well.”

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Djokovic Grand Slams record and Djokovic ranking history 

Djokovic's first visit to the No.1 spot came on July 4, 2011, after his first win at the Wimbledon Championships - just his third Grand Slam title. 14 Slam titles and nine years later, Djokovic is on his 5th stretch at the top spot. Having won at his favourite Slam in Melbourne this year, he also finished 2020 as the year-end World No.1 for a sixth time, equalling Pete Sampras' record. His longest stint outside the No.1 ranking came from 6 November 2016 to 5 November 2018 after he missed most of the 2017 season due to an elbow injury and a rift with his team. 

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Image Credits: Novak Djokovic twitter