I dreamt of this achievement when I was a kid – Novak Djokovic on his ranking record

The World No. 1 Novak Djokovic has finally leapfrogged Roger Federer’s prestigious record of spending most weeks as an ATP No. 1 player. Djokovic has now spent 311 weeks and he surpassed Roger Federer’s tally (310 weeks) on Monday. The Serbian is delighted to have bagged the glorious record and add another feather in his cap.

In fact, it is always rightly said that staying at the top is far more difficult than reaching the summit and Djokovic has proved why he is among the best Tennis players. Djokovic recently won his 18th slam title after winning his ninth Australian Open crown by defeating Daniil Medvedev in the final in straight sets. The Serbian has 12030 rating points under his belt.

On the other hand, former World No.1 American player Pete Sampras had spent 286 weeks at the numero uno position. Ivan Lendl had spent 270 weeks as a World No. 1 whereas Jimmy Connors dominated the number one rankings for 268 weeks. Rafael Nadal stayed at the pinnacle of the rankings for 209 weeks.

Djokovic stated that it is a dream come true for him after he achieved the record.

“I think this achievement is something that I dreamt of when I was a kid. Starting to play tennis and it’s kind of a tribute to the love and commitment that I have for the sport I hope that I can keep going and playing at this level because of the thirst of competition and uh being part of the professional tennis world is still there,” Djokovic said in an interview with NDTV. 

“Being part of the history of the sport that I truly love and I’m very passionate about is a huge honor and a privilege. And to stand alongside all the tennis history greats is something that uh that I always dreamed of and that I truly respect and appreciate. So I’m of course very, very joyful and happy at the moment.”

Meanwhile, Djokovic is well clear of his challengers like Daniil Medvedev and Rafael Nadal. Medvedev, who is all set to become World No. 2 on March 15, is still 2000 points away from Djokovic in the ATP Rankings. Thus, Djokovic can easily extend his domination at the top and it could be almost impossible for any other player to get close to his record in the future.

Djokovic has come up with consistent performances and he had recently stated that he will focus more on slams after breaking Federer’s elite rankings record.