Novak Djokovic matches Jimmy Connors' ranking record

Novak Djokovic is spending the 299th week as world no. 1, celebrating a massive milestone next Monday and setting eyes on Roger Federer's record. Before that, Novak has matched Jimmy Connors' top-3 achievement, becoming the fourth Open era player with 591 weeks in the top-3! Roger Federer is miles in front of all the rivals, standing on 750 weeks in the exclusive group and hoping to return there in 2021. His closest rival Rafael Nadal is on 622, wrapping up his third straight season in the top-3 and moving closer to Roger's record. Behind them, Novak Djokovic and Jimmy Connors stand on 591, with the Serb catching the American before moving in front next Monday. Novak joined the party in July 2007, becoming the third-strongest link on the Tour and becoming one of the most consistent players in the years to come.

For five months in 2009, Novak had to linger just outside the top-3, returning there in October and staying among three leading positions until June 2017, struggling with an elbow injury and missing the rest of the season after Wimbledon to drop out from the top-20. As we all know, Djokovic made a notable comeback in the second part of 2018, claiming four big titles and finishing the season as the year-end no. 1 player ahead of Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer. Djokovic returned into the top-3 following the US Open triumph and has stayed in the leading group ever since, embracing another stellar campaign in 2020 to catch and pass Connors.

Novak Djokovic is the fourth player with 591 weeks in the top-3.

Novak kicked off the season behind us ranked 2nd, making a perfect start at the ATP Cup and leading Serbia towards the title. Not stopping there, Djokovic defended the Australian Open crown, beating Dominic Thiem in thrilling five sets to earn 2000 points and conquer the ATP throne.

In his last pre-pandemic event, Novak won the title in Dubai over Stefanos Tsitsipas, finishing the opening two months of the season with a perfect score. The Serb returned at his best following the season restart in Cincinnati, claiming the 35th Masters 1000 title and standing as the clear favorite at the US Open. Novak's first mistake of the season came against Pablo Carreno Busta in New York, hitting the lineswoman and getting defaulted for the first time in a career! Leaving that failure behind him, Novak secured the 36th Masters 1000 title in Rome and reached the final at Roland Garros, seeking the 18th Major crown. Instead of that, Rafael Nadal grabbed his 20th, beating the Serb in straight sets and producing Novak's second loss of the season. Djokovic secured the sixth year-end no. 1 honor after reaching the quarter-final in Vienna and finished the season at the ATP Finals, suffering a tight semi-final loss to Dominic Thiem. 

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/3nobdd7