In 2007, Novak Djokovic had yet to win a Grand Slam title.
The Serbian superstar won his first major at the 2008 Australian Open, and has gone on to win 24 Grand Slam titles.
Djokovic will be hunting down a 25th title in 2026 – a title that would make him the outright leader in Grand Slam singles titles won, ahead of Margaret Court.
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Early in his career, Djokovic quickly established himself as the main challenger to Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal’s dominance.
However, few could have predicted the titanic rise of Djokovic back when he was a youngster on the Tour in 2007.
Novak Djokovic said becoming world number one was his ‘lifetime goal’
Novak Djokovic reached his first Grand Slam final at the 2007 US Open. The Serbian star, 20 years old at the time, lost to world number one Roger Federer in the final.
It was a landmark moment for Djokovic, who had proven he could compete with the very best on Tour – he defeated Spanish legends Carlos Moya and David Ferrer on his way to the final.
Two months later, the Serb reflected on his campaign and spoke about his chances of challenging Federer and Nadal in 2008.
During an interview with BBC Sport in November 2007, Djokovic was asked: “You’re already world number three. Do you think it’s possible to crack the top two in 2008?”
“The way Roger Federer is playing, he’s not planning on giving up first place for a while,” Djokovic replied.
“And Nadal, three years at number two in the world, I’m sure he’s going to be trying to knock Roger off the top.
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“But I am leading the next group and I will try to maintain my high level of performance.
“My lifetime goal is to get to number one in the world and if I don’t make it next year then I won’t be sad. Maybe in five years, that would be fine.”
Djokovic achieved the world number one spot around four years later. On July 4, 2011, Djokovic became the world number one for the first time.
He achieved the feat following his defeat of Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the 2011 Wimbledon semi-finals. Djokovic cemented his place as the best player in the world by defeating Rafael Nadal in the final, winning his first Wimbledon title in the process.
Djokovic has spent the most weeks at world number one
Novak Djokovic is the most dominant player in the history of men’s tennis, as proven by his stranglehold on the world number one spot.
Djokovic has spent a record 428 weeks as the world number one during his career, 118 weeks ahead of the next best player – Roger Federer.
Pete Sampras, Ivan Lendl and Jimmy Connors round out the top five, while Rafael Nadal is in sixth place, having spent 209 weeks in the top spot.
Current world number two Jannik Sinner has spent 66 weeks as the world number one. Carlos Alcaraz recently achieved the landmark of 50 weeks at the world number one spot.
