Djokovic breaks the record for weeks as number one: 311

“My wish is to be the first, with the highest number of weeks in history, and I will work to make that come true”, said it a few months ago Novak Djokovic, who has never hidden that he wanted it with all his might. Unlike Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal, who tend to be more discreet when talking about this legendary struggle for hegemony in tennis, the Serbian's ambition knows no limits and he emphasizes his objectives very often. And this Monday, March 8, it has reached the one pointed out in those statements. He is already the player who has been number one in the world for more weeks. Officially starts the 311 and surpasses the record held by Federer since June 18, 2018 with 310.

If everything goes more or less well, it will arrive, at least, at 320, just before the start of Roland Garros (May 17)Because Medvedev, who will be second on March 15, is still a long way off. The next active player on the all-time list is Nadal, sixth with 209. At 286, American Pete Sampras came in third.

Djokovic was the leader of the ranking for the first time on July 4, 2011. That year he made Nadal's life bitter. He won six finals against the Spaniard, one of them at Wimbledon, the victory that consummated the sorpasso in a classification led by Rafa, who also knelt in front of the Balkan in Indian Wells, Miami, Madrid, Rome and the US Open. Tremendous. Nole held the job for 53 weeks until Federer unseated him. Since then, he has held the throne five more times in periods of 48, 122, 52, 7 and 29, which he currently chains. His consecutive records are far from the mythical record of the Swiss in that regard, which since his debut as king of tennis, on February 2, 2004, did not get off there for 237 weeks. The numbers that have taken him to the top are impressive: 82 titles, 18 of them in the four Grand Slams, 36 of Masters 1,000 (he has won them all), five in the Finals and one Davis Cup, with 943 victories and 191 defeats. He only needs to be an Olympic champion.

Celebration and calendar

Djokovic, who is also together with Pete Sampras the one who has finished at the top of the table the most times (6), spent a few days in Marbella after winning the Australian Open and is now in Belgrade, where he will celebrate his new record in a restaurant in the Serbian capital called Novak 1. This weekend he unveiled on his official website his calendar more immediate in the circuit, which will happen if his abdominal injury is not complicated, from which in theory he is almost recovered, due to the Masters 1,000 from Miami (March 24 to April 4) and Monte Carlo (April 11 to 18), and the new ATP 250 from Belgrade, which will be held at the facilities that bear his name (April 19-25). The foreseeable thing is that afterwards he will be in Madrid and in Rome before facing Roland Garros with the aim of trying again to beat Nadal on the Balearic's fetish track and get to only one major of him and Federer with his soul set on surpassing them. Another of his great goals.