Ranking Reaction: Novak Djokovic surpasses Steffi Graf with 378th career week at No. 1

On March 8th, 2021, Novak Djokovic broke the record for most career weeks at No. 1 in ATP rankings history, kicking off his 311th week at the top spot that day and surpassing Roger Federer’s mark of 310.

And today—Monday, February 27th, 2023—Djokovic has broken the record for most career weeks at No. 1 in either ATP or WTA rankings history, kicking off his 378th career week at the top spot and surpassing Steffi Graf’s women’s record of 377.

“Obviously Steffi Graf is one of the biggest legends of our sport, both men’s and women’s tennis, and someone that I truly admire and respect,” Djokovic said at a press conference last week, two days after tying the German, a fellow 22-time Grand Slam champion. “Of course it’s very flattering that I am able to equal her record, and obviously have a possibility to break the record as well, next week.”

And it’s not just 378 weeks—it’s 378 of the last 587 weeks.

Since he first rose to No. 1 on July 4th, 2011 after winning his first Wimbledon title, Djokovic has spent 378 of the 587 weeks of ATP rankings at the top spot, an incredible 64.4% (the 587-week period doesn’t include the 22 weeks the ATP rankings were frozen in 2020).

“Being No. 1 in the world and winning Wimbledon was my childhood dream, so when I achieved that dream in 2011, I had to dream new dreams, so to say, and set new goals,” Djokovic added. “I think it’s very important to have the goals, have the dreams, because they give you clarity, and they allow you to extract the most of your own capabilities, and even surpass your own limits if you have any.

“So of course I'm very proud of it, but I never take the success as my own individual success—I always try to mention, as I will do now, my family, my team, and all the people who have been throughout all my career with me. Their support is huge and it is so key for me and everything that I do in life, particularly for tennis, so I’m still able as a 35-year-old to play on the highest level and travel the world, because I have the love and support of the close ones.”

MOST WEEKS AT NO. 1 IN ATP OR WTA RANKINGS HISTORY:

• 378: Novak Djokovic (and counting)
• 377: Steffi Graf
• 332: Martina Navratilova
• 319: Serena Williams
• 310: Roger Federer
• 286: Pete Sampras
• 270: Ivan Lendl
• 268: Jimmy Connors
• 260: Chris Evert
• 209: Rafael Nadal, Martina Hingis

There’s some very big news for American tennis this week, too: Taylor Fritz rises from No. 7 to a new career-high of No. 5, making him the first American man to be in the Top 5 of the ATP rankings since Andy Roddick was ranked No. 5 during the 2009 US Open fortnight (the weeks of August 31st and September 7th, 2009).

Fritz didn’t play any tournaments this past week, but moved up two spots after Andrey Rublev and Rafael Nadal, who were No. 5 and No. 6, dipped down to No. 6 and No. 8 after their points from winning the ATP 500 events in Dubai and Acapulco last year fell off.

The 25-year-old Californian is the 21st American man to reach the Top 5 since the ATP rankings began in 1973.

AMERICAN MEN TO REACH TOP 5 ON ATP RANKINGS (21):

• No. 1s: Agassi, Connors, Courier, McEnroe, Roddick, Sampras
• No. 2s: Ashe, Chang
• No. 3s: Gerulaitis, Gottfried, Smith
• No. 4s: Blake, Gilbert, Martin, Mayer, Tanner
• No. 5s: Arias, Curren, Dibbs, Fritz, Solomon

(Kevin Curren was originally from South Africa but reached No. 5 after switching representation to the United States, and Ivan Lendl fell out of the Top 5 before switching representation to the U.S.)

There are several other notable ranking moves this week: Barbora Krejcikova jumps from No. 30 to No. 16 after winning Dubai, without a single point to defend until Roland Garros as she missed this next part of the season last year with an arm injury; American Alycia Parks makes her Top 50 debut, inching up from No. 51 to No. 50; and Stan Wawrinka is in the Top 100 for the first time since last January, rising from No. 105 to No. 97 after reaching the quarters in Marseille.