Novak Djokovic matches Roger Federer's exclusive ranking record

Struggling with an elbow injury for over a year, Novak Djokovic returned where he belongs in the second part of 2018 and set eyes on two ultimate records.

The Serb dropped out from the top-20 in 2018 before winning Wimbledon and the US Open and finishing the season as the year-end no. 1 player. Between 2011-2016, Djokovic secured 223 weeks as world no. 1, standing above all the rivals and joining Federer and Nadal in the GOAT race.

Since the end of 2018, Novak hasn't been on the ATP throne for only 13 weeks, returning there after the last year's Australian Open and standing miles above Rafael Nadal and other closest rivals.

Read also

'Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic care only about Majors,' said Bartoli

Moving closer and closer to Roger Federer's record, Novak embraced a rock-solid 2020 season and cemented his advantage with another Australian Open crown two weeks ago. On Monday, March 1, Novak matched Roger Federer's record of 310 weeks as world no. 1, achieving one of his most significant goals and passing the Swiss player in seven days to become the leader of the pack for the first time in a career.

Read also

'Facing Novak Djokovic brings different level of tennis,' said Karatsev

Novak is currently over 2000 points in front of Rafael Nadal and Daniil Medvedev, with a lot of room to plan his schedule as he wants and keep his focus on the most significant tournaments. The Australian Open was Djokovic's 18th Major title, moving two away from Federer and Nadal and hoping to catch them by the end of the season.

Most weeks as world no. 1 since 1973:

310 - Novak Djokovic
310 - Roger Federer
286 - Pete Sampras
270 - Ivan Lendl
268 - Jimmy Connors
209 - Rafael Nadal