Novak Djokovic breaks yet another rankings barrier
Novak Djokovic continues to accumulate astounding milestones, now becoming just the second player ever to achieve this particular feat.
Back in March, the Serbian world number one overtook Roger Federer for first in the all-time ATP list for most weeks at world number one with 311.
Now, having remained at number one since, Djokovic has amassed a total of 350 weeks in the top spot.
Combining the ATP and WTA lists for most weeks at number one, the top five from fifth to first are Federer (310), Serena Williams (319), Martina Navratilova (332), Novak Djokovic (350) and Steffi Graf (377).
As such, Djokovic is only the second player ever to boast 350 weeks or more as world number one.
Should Djokovic stay at world number one for the next 27 weeks to equal Graf, he would do so soon after Roland Garros 2022 in June.
However, Daniil Medvedev may have something to say about that, particularly if Djokovic does not end up competing at the first Slam of the year in Melbourne.
The 34-year-old has still not confirmed whether he will participate at the Australian Open come 17th January, a Slam he has won nine times.
Should he skip the event, it would be his first time not competing since his 2005 debut, ending a run of 17 consecutive appearances.
After an astounding 2021 Slam season which saw Djokovic win three and appear in another final, the Serb will be defending 7,200 ranking points from those four events alone.
As an example of how close Medvedev can come should Djokovic skip Australia, if the Russian took the title in Djokovic’s absence he would gain 2,800 ranking points on the serb.
The breakdown of that would be 800 points on top of his 2021 final appearance and 2,000 points dropped by Djokovic for not putting up a title defence.
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