Last Monday, Novak Djokovic began his 411th week as No.1 of the ATP world rankings. The Serbian champion, who is swallowing up records and statistics, has set his sights on a new and incredible record which currently belongs to Roger Federer.
The Serbian star will try to become the oldest tennis player in history to be ATP No.1, in singles, surpassing the Swiss Maestro who, in 2018, returned for a few weeks to lead the world men’s ranking, at the age of 36 years and 10 months.
It will be enough for Djokovic to maintain first position until at least April 1st, but he will still have several opportunities in case he fails to reach this milestone by that date. Djokovic does not defend points at the ATP Masters 1000 in Indian Wells and Miami and, precisely for this reason, he will try to take advantage of the two tournaments on the North American hard-courts to collect the maximum possible points.
Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer© Julian Finney / Staff Getty Images Sport
These are the two events he is expected to take part in before April 1st. In 2023, Djokovic missed both appointments due to the entry rules in force in the United States at the time, which did not allow a foreign citizen to enter the country without a COVID-19 vaccine.
The Serbian then made his return to the USA in the summer, winning first the ATP Masters 1000 in Cincinnati and then his 24th Slam at the US Open.
Meanwhile, Djokovic relaxes with his family before returning to the court
In fact, Nole took a short holiday in Italy, in Trentino Alto Adige (country of origin of his new rival Jannik Sinner – ed.) with his family, before returning to work to prepare for the next tournaments. The Serbian champion will not participate in the ATP 500 event in Dubai like last year, but will play the ATP Masters 1000 in Indian Wells for the first time in 4 years.
The Serb played his last match at the BNP Paribas Open in 2019, when he farewelled the tournament by losing sensationally in the third round to Philipp Kohlschreiber.
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