Melbourne/UNI: Serbia's Novak Djokovic on Monday returned to the top of the ATP Rankings for a fifth stint after capturing a record-extending eighth Australian Open title.It will be his 276th week at the top, replacing Spain's Rafael Nadal, who had overtaken him at No 1 on 4 November last year.
Djokovic, who has now been World No 1 during nine of the past 10 seasons (2011-16, 2018-20), will break Roger Federer’s record for most weeks at No 1 (310 weeks) if he stays at the top until October 5.
''That’s one of the two biggest goals, for sure. I mean, there is no secret in that,'' said Djokovic, after winning in Melbourne. Djokovic first ascended to No 1 in the ATP Rankings aged 24 on July 4 , 2011 for a total of 53 weeks until July 8, 2012.
The Serbian returned to top spot on three further occasions between November 5, 2012 and October 6, 2013 (48 weeks), from July 7 2014 to November 6, 2016 (122 weeks) and from November 5 2018 to November 3 2019 (52 weeks).
The 32-year-old Djokovic is unbeaten in 2020 with a perfect 13-0 match record, which includes helping Team Serbia clinch the inaugural ATP Cup trophy.
His Australian Open win takes Djokovic’s Grand Slam championship tally to 17 (third in the all-time list behind Federer on 20 and Nadal on 19) and gives him a strong lead in the year-to-date ATP Race To London.
Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons
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