5 players who have spent the most weeks as World No. 1 ft. Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams
By reaching the semifinals en route to winning last week's Italian Open, Novak Djokovic extended his stay as ATP World No. 1 for another week. The 34-year-old Serb is closing in on the record for the most weeks ranked as World No. 1 in tennis history.
Here is a look at the five players who have been ranked as either a men's or women's singles World No. 1 for the most weeks:
#5 Roger Federer - 310 weeks
Roger Federer has spent 310 weeks at the top of the ATP rankings, second only to his great rival Novak Djokovic. The Swiss first became World No. 1 in February 2004 and stayed there for a record of 237 consecutive weeks until August 2008, when Rafael Nadal became World No. 1.
Federer then spent a further 48 weeks occupying the top spot between July 2009 and June 2010 and 17 weeks from July 2012 to November 2012. The 40-year-old reclaimed the top spot for six weeks between February and April 2018 and two separate weeks in May and June of that year.
The 20-time Major champion's most recent and 310th week on top came less than two months before his 37th birthday, making him the oldest World No. 1 ever. Federer finished five years ranked as the ATP year-end World No. 1.
#4 Serena Williams - 319 weeks
Serena Williams first became the top-ranked player on the WTA tour in July 2002 and remained there for 57 weeks until August 2003, when she was overtaken by Kim Clijsters. More than five years later, the American returned to the top spot for a four-week period from September to October 2008.
After having her third, fourth and fifth spells as World No. 1 in the period between February 2009 and October 2010, Williams started her sixth and longest stretch in August 2013. The 40-year-old spent a joint record of 186 straight weeks as the top-ranked women's player until losing the position more than three years later in September 2016.
The 23-time Grand Slam singles titlist spent a further nine weeks on top in 2017, with her most recent and 319th week there coming in May of that season. Williams ended five seasons as the WTA year-end World No. 1.
#3 Martina Navratilova - 332 weeks
Martina Navratilova climbed to the top of the WTA rankings for the first time in July 1978, with her maiden spell lasting for 26 weeks until January 1979. The Czechoslovak-American spent nine different spells as World No. 1, with the longest being 156 weeks during her seventh stint on top from June 1982 to June 1985.
Navratilova also topped the WTA rankings for 90 straight weeks in her final stretch between November 1985 and August 1987, which completed a then-record total of 332 weeks. The 18-time Major singles champion finished seven seasons as the WTA year-end No. 1.
#2 Novak Djokovic - 370* weeks
Current men's World No. 1 Novak Djokovic has spent a record 370 weeks at the top of the ATP rankings. The 20-time Grand Slam champion first ascended to the pinnacle of the men's rankings in July 2011. He stayed in the top spot for 53 weeks until he was leapfrogged by Federer in July 2012.
Djokovic then put together a second spell lasting 48 weeks from November 2012 to October 2013, before his third and longest stretch of 122 straight weeks between July 2014 and November 2016. The 34-year-old Serb returned to the top spot for 52 weeks from November 2018 to November 2019 and spent 86 weeks there between February 2020 and February 2022 (ATP rankings were frozen for 22 weeks in 2020).
After briefly losing the ATP World No. 1 position to Daniil Medvedev, Djokovic has held it for nine weeks since reclaiming it in March.
#1 Steffi Graf - 377 weeks
Steffi Graf is the player to have spent the most weeks as World No. 1 since the WTA and ATP rankings were introduced. The German took over from Navratilova as the top-ranked women's player in August 1987 to begin her first reign as World No. 1.
Graf held the position for a joint WTA record of 186 consecutive weeks until March 1991, when Monica Seles climbed to top spot for the first time. She had seven spells as World No. 1, with her 377th and final week coming in March 1997 - before Martina Hingis overtook her.
The 22-time Major champion finished a record eight seasons as WTA year-end No.1
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