Novak Djokovic crowns another record taking top spot from Roger Federer in ATP Rankings race

Novak Djokovic continues to make history so it is no shock that he has gone on to make some more during the 2025 season. It was his 16th top four finish passing Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal to achieve this feat. But he also won a record which shows his true longevity in the sport.

At 38 years and 5 months old on the ATP Year End rankings which were released on November 17th, Djokovic is the oldest player to finish a year in the top four of the ATP Rankings in history. He surpasses Roger Federer's record from 2019 as well as the year prior as he held the record for two years in a row.

Novak Djokovic is next up also on the list in 2023 reaching World No.1 and is the oldest World No.1 in history to finish Year End in that position with 36 years and six months to his name. This followed by Rafael Nadal in 2022 who was World No.2 when he managed to finish in that spot as a 36 year old. Others to round out the top positions include Rod Laver back in 1974 and Jimmy Connors in 1987 who long led the positions until Roger Federer came through in 2017 and 2018 to gatecrash the list as well as Djokovic and Nadal.

Djokovic in achieving this feat is one of only 14 men to do it. He's now done it the second most times too passing Jimmy Connors who he seems to pass a lot these days for records as well as Rafael Nadal. He is only now trailing Roger Federer and given he has given his potential to play at the LA Olympic Games he could yet finish in these positions for a few more years to come.

While Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz lead the sport and the likelihood under which Djokovic currently finds his way into a Grand Slam winning spot is unlikely, he is still very much one of the best of the rest and proved that again this year reaching multiple major semi-finals and finishing top four despite barely playing events.

Speaking of those 14, here is the list of said 14. Federer did so in 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018 and 2019. While Djokovic has done it in 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2023 and 2025. He has only missed 2022 and 2024.

Jimmy Connors did it apart from 1986 from 1982 onwards and has now been passed by Djokovic while Rafael Nadal also sits in that spot having done it in 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2022.

Andre Agassi has done it three times in 2001, 2002 and 2003. While Stan Wawrinka won the accolade in 2015 and 2016. The Swiss ace perhaps will go down in history as one of the most underrated top names given also like Djokovic he is still very much active.

John Newcombe and Rod Laver in 1974; Arthur Ashe in 1975; Ilie Nastase in 1976; Guillermo Vilas in 1982; John McEnroe in 1989; Ivan Lendl in 1990; and David Ferrer in 2013 all did it once so all figure on the list but aren't multiple top four finishers.

Djokovic also finished a record eight of those years at World No.1 as part of those 17 years. He won his 100th and 101st titles in 2025 in Geneva and Athens. The 24-time Grand Slam champion also reached the final in Miami and the semi-finals in Shanghai and like alluded to in reality was only stopped by Sinner and Alcaraz or freak runs each time so would likely be on even more Grand Slams in what has been a role reversal from old times.