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Novak Djokovic Australian Open 2021
ATP Tennis Players, Novak Djokovic, Tennis News

‘Probably my biggest ever achievement’, says Novak Djokovic on historic No. 1 ranking record


Novak Djokovic said breaking the record for most weeks ranked as world No. 1 was historic and probably his biggest ever achievement.

The 18-time Grand Slam champion reached 311 weeks on top of the ATP rankings last month to eclipse Roger Federerā€™s tally of 310 weeks.

The 33-year-old Serbian will feature for the first time since winning the Australian Open in February at the Monte Carlo Masters 1000 event this week. The top seed will play either Jannik Sinner or Albert Ramos-Vinolas in his opening match.

“The historic achievement was of course something that was very fulfilling for me, for my family. It’s probably the biggest achievement that I’ve ever had in my career,” said Djokovic in a pre-tournament interview.

“It’s an accumulation of all the years of success and hard work, not just for myself but all the people that are around me, my team, my family.

“I was very happy to be able to stay close to my family and share the joy with them even though the restrictions were such that we could not make maybe more of a celebration than we kind of imagined.

“But nevertheless there were a lot of people that showed up on the streets. I’m very thankful to the city of Belgrade and the country of Serbia for creating some special events during that day to acknowledge the success. And it was definitely a very special day that will stay forever in my heart.”


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Tim Farthing, Tennishead Editorial Director & Owner, has been a huge tennis fan his whole life. He's a tennis journalist and entrepreneur as well as playing tennis to a national standard. He also helps manage his local club and volunteers for his local tennis organisation. He's a specialist in content about the administration of professional tennis and tennis coaching for all levels.