CNN
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Novak Djokovic has achieved another milestone in his excellent performance tennis career, surpassing Steffi Graf to spend the most weeks at No. 1 in the world.
On Monday, Djokovic began his 378th week as the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) world No. 1, the most weeks spent in that position since the ATP ranking system began in 1973.
A week ago, Djokovic matched the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) all-time leaderboard, having held the top spot for 377 weeks in her career.
“With your love and the great strength you have given me over the years, I have been able to achieve many great achievements throughout my career,” Djokovic said. said In a video message to fans, shared by ATP.
“The most recent one broke the record of 378 weeks in the No. 1 ranking, surpassing Steffi Graf, one of the greatest, greatest tennis players – both men and women – to ever play. So I’m happy, obviously very, very proud and happy for this achievement.
Djokovic returned to No. 1 by winning the Australian Open last month. It was his 22nd major title, tying him with Rafael Nadal for the most Grand Slam singles titles in men’s tennis.
The 35-year-old will return to the court this week as the top seed at the Dubai Tennis Championships, his first tournament since the Australian Open.
The Serbian has been ruled out of action with a hamstring injury but told reporters he has been “pain-free” for a week ahead of his first match against Czech Republic’s Tomas Machak on Tuesday.
It remains to be seen where and when Djokovic will play after Dubai, with his participation in next month’s Indian Wells and Miami Open tournaments in doubt.
The United States still requires international visitors to be vaccinated against Covid-19, and Djokovic, who has previously confirmed he is unvaccinated, has now traveled to the country ahead of both tournaments, which start on March 6 and March 20. have applied for special permission to enter respectively.
“Right now I can only hope because, you know, my situation remains the same. “I can’t do much other than wish for a positive result,” Djokovic told reporters earlier.
