Ageing like fine wine: Novak Djokovic becomes oldest player in ATP history to finish campaign in top four rankings

Another day, another record smashed by Novak Djokovic. He has become the oldest ATP player in history to finish a year in the top four of the rankings at the age of 38 years and five months.

While he was not at his most competitive best on the court in 2025, he was still very much up there battling against the best in the world and more than less coming out on top. He was not at loads of tournaments, picking and choosing his pathway through the year carefully with his age and fitness in mind.

His most notable results were the four Grand Slam semi-final appearances he made. The first obviously came in the Australian Open where enroute to the last-four he picked up the first and only win against either of the top two this calendar year. He got the better of Carlos Alcaraz before being forced to retire against Alexander Zverev in the semi-finals. He would suffer with some inconsistency on court, losing in his opening match in three of the four Masters 1000 events to kick start the year. The one he did not suffer this fate in was the Miami Open. He charged through the field towards a final showdown against the talented Jakub Mensik, who won a brace of tiebreaks to compound more misery on the Serbian.

He would clinch his first title of the year in the Geneva Open and subsequently clinch his 100th ATP title. This was instead of competing at the big clay tournaments where most of his competition were at. He returned to the big time in the French Open where he was the sixth seed, the same at Wimbledon. These were unusually low of the 24-time Grand Slam champion, based off the lack of time on court and early exits suffered.

He fell down to seventh in the world for the US Open after not competing in the North American hardcourt swing. While Jannik Sinner had got the better of him in the previous two majors, it was Alcaraz who defeated him at Flushing Meadows as he rose back up the order. He got back in the top four after a semi-final appearance in the Shanghai Masters and completed the year with a title at the Hellenic Championship. While he sat handsomely in fourth, it would come under threat at the ATP Finals, a tournament he comfortably qualified for by opted against competing at. Fortunately, his top four position was safe, with Felix Auger-Aliassime his closest competitor in fifth just under 600 points behind.

It was a close call with Roger Federer for the oldest, who finished the 2019 campaign as world number three at the age of 38 years and three months. The Swiss star had already set the record the year before, making history as he became the first 37-year-old to finish inside the top four. Before him, Rod Laver in 1974 was the oldest.

Djokovic first features as a 36-year-old in 2023. He could have pipped Federer to third spot in 2024 but uncharacteristically culminated the year as world number seven. However, a return to the big time has seen him once more cement his name as one of the greatest players to pick up a racket, no matter the age or time frame.