Novak Djokovic sets new record with 7th year-end No. 1 finish

Novak Djokovic has dethroned Pete Sampras for the most year-end No. 1 rankings in tennis history as the Serbian clinched his 7th one with a win over Hurkacz today.

Djokovic had to do some work in order to secure finishing as the best player in the world. The Serbian had to reach the Paris Masters final and with a closely contested win today against Hurkacz he was able to do it. That created history as the Serbian broke another record which quite possibly might never be broken again.

The reason is simple, it took possibly one of the greatest ever to break the previous one which was held by Pete Sampras, another tennis legend. Finishing the year as the number one ranked player in the world is extremely hard to do as it means that you, literally and mathematically were the best player in the previous calendar year. Before this year, Novak Djokovic was tied with Pete Sampras at 6.

The Serbian finished the year as number one in 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2018, and 2020. Now he added 2021 to this list to become the sole record holder with 7 year-end No. 1 rankings in tennis history. Nobody ever did it before and quite possibly nobody ever will top it. Put into perspective of doing it during one of the most epic and competitive tennis eras in history makes it even more unbelievable.