Novak Djokovic overtakes Steffi Graf to claim historic all-time rankings record | Tennis News

Novak Djokovic has overtaken legendary Steffi Graf after topping the world rankings for a record-breaking 378 weeks.

Djokovic has overtaken Graf for most weeks as world No 1 after starting his 378th week at the top of the men’s rankings.

The 35-year-old Serb first became world No 1 in 2011 and has since ended the year in first place in the rankings a record seven times.

Djokovic returned to world No 1 for the first time in six months by winning the Australian Open for a record-extending 10th time in January.

His longest continuous run at the top was 122 weeks between July 2014 and November 2016 but he trails Roger Federer, Graf and Serena Williams, Jimmy Connors and Ivan Lendl.

Djokovic shares the record for most-ever men’s Grand Slam singles titles alongside Rafael Nadal with 22 major titles, the most-ever Australian Opens and the record for most Masters titles with 38.

He completed a non-calendar year Grand Slam in singles, becoming the only man in tennis history to be the reigning champion of the four majors at once across three different surfaces.

But Djokovic missed out on claiming the first calendar-year Slam since 1969 after losing the 2021 US Open final to Daniil Medvedev.

The men’s world rankings were introduced in 1973, while the women’s rankings were introduced two years later.

Djokovic next takes to the court at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, which gets underway this week.