Ranking Reaction: Novak Djokovic kicks off milestone 400th career week at No. 1

Novak Djokovic didn’t even need to win the title at the ATP Finals to stay No. 1—he just needed to win one match, which he got by defeating Holger Rune in his opening round-robin contest.

But he went all the way to the title, anyway.

And that makes the latest of his many, many milestones even sweeter—today he kicks off his record-extending 400th career week at No. 1 on the ATP rankings, now a full 90 weeks ahead of the next man on the list, Roger Federer, who has 310.

“It’s huge. It means a lot, obviously,” Djokovic said of the milestone after his round-robin win over Rune. “I knew coming into the tournament here I needed only one win to clinch the year-end No. 1. I really wanted that to happen already tonight—I didn’t want to prolong in a way the situation, and complicate in a way this particular goal. I’m really glad that I managed to do that tonight.”

MOST CAREER WEEKS AT NO. 1 ON ATP RANKINGS (since 1973):
400: Novak Djokovic
310: Roger Federer
286: Pete Sampras
270: Ivan Lendl
268: Jimmy Connors

With the ATP Finals title, Djokovic also extends his lead at No. 1 to 2,390 points over No. 2-ranked Carlos Alcaraz (11,245 to 8,855). That gap was 1,490 points going into the event (9,945 to 8,455).

Djokovic is guaranteed to keep No. 1 until at least the end of the 2024 Australian Open, and given his record at the Happy Slam—he’s won it 10 times, including the last four times he’s played it—it would surprise nobody if he keeps it well beyond then, too.

Just by winning his first match at the ATP Finals, Djokovic also clinched a record-extending eighth career year-end No. 1 finish, now two ahead of the next man on the list, Pete Sampras.

The year-end ATP rankings will be released on December 4th.

MOST NO. 1 FINISHES IN ATP RANKINGS HISTORY (since 1973):
8: Novak Djokovic [2011, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2018, 2020, 2021, 2023]
6: Pete Sampras [1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998]
5: Rafael Nadal [2008, 2010, 2013, 2017, 2019]
5: Roger Federer [2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009]
5: Jimmy Connors [1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978]

Surprisingly, there are no changes in the Top 10 this week after the ATP Finals. There are a few notable moves further down the ATP rankings, though, including American teenager Alex Michelsen rising from No. 99 to a new career-high of No. 94 after reaching his fourth Challenger final of the year in Champaign, Illinois. The 19-year-old just made his Top 100 debut a week ago after winning his second Challenger title of the year in Knoxville, Tennessee.