Djokovic becomes the tennis player in history with the most weeks as world number one

Novak Djokovic, at a press conference on Sunday in Dubai.KARIM SAHIB (AFP)

The Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic has become this Monday the tennis player in history (taking into account men and women) with the most weeks as world number one, with 378, surpassing the record set by the German Steffi Graf.

With his 378th week at the top of the ATP world

, the 35-year-old Balkan managed to undo the tie with Graf that he achieved last week, an achievement that joins his extensive list of successes on the circuit.

Just the week in which the Balkan tennis player has achieved this milestone, the Spanish tennis player Garbiñe Muguruza has fallen to 125th place in the ranking and is outside the top 100 for the first time in more than 10 years.

In January, Djokovic matched Rafa Nadal with 22 Grand Slam singles titles by winning the Australian Open for the 10th time, more than any other male player in history.

In addition, he is one of the two men (alongside Nadal) who have won all four major singles at least twice, the only one who has won all nine Masters 1,000 and the only one who has finished the year as world number one seven times. .

And still he rises 💫

With 378 weeks at the top of the @PepperstoneFX ATP Rankings, Novak Djokovic has made history, breaking the ALL TIME tennis record for the longest spot at number one 🙌 🏆 pic.twitter.com/zil7BKkKB8

— ATP Tour (@atptour) February 27, 2023

for a long time

.

His closest male rival in the historical ranking, which was introduced in 1973, is Swiss Roger Federer, now retired and who spent a total of 310 weeks as world number one.

The podium is closed by the American Pete Sampras (286).

On the women's circuit, Graf came to command the WTA ranking for 377 weeks —which started in 1975—.

The German was the female number one 45 weeks more than the second ranked, the Czech Martina Navratilova (332), with the American Serena Williams in third position (319).

It was precisely in the women's circuit that Muguruza fell this Monday to number 127 in the WTA world

, with 40 places lost, which continues her free fall due to a sports break that has led her to be out of the top 100 for first time in the last ten years, while Paula Badosa loses three places and is now number 22 in the world.

Muguruza, who became number one in the world in 2017, had not been out of the top 100 since January 14, 2013, when she was number 112 in the world.

Nadal falls to eighth place in the standings

In the rest of the ATP

this week, the Spanish Carlos Alcaraz remains in second place, despite losing in the final in Rio de Janeiro, ahead of the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas and the Norwegian Casper Ruud, while the American Taylor Fritz has moved up two positions to close the top five.

The most pronounced drop in the top 10 is starring Rafa Nadal, who has paid for his break due to injury and has gone from sixth to eighth place, behind the Russians Andrey Rublev and Daniil Medvedev.

Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime and Danish Holger Rune are ninth and tenth, respectively.

Undoubtedly, the big jump of the week is that of the Valencian Bernabé Zapata, who sees rewarded for his great performance in the Rio tournament, where he reached the semifinals, and climbs 21 places to 42, entering the top 50 for the first time. Among the rest of Spaniards, the Asturian Pablo Carreño remains seventeenth;

Roberto Bautista from Castellón rises one place to 27th and Alejandro Davidovich from Málaga, two to 29th;

Albert Ramos from Barcelona drops three to 50;

Jaume Munar from the Balearic Islands is still in 1966;

and Roberto Carballés from Tenerife drops one to 74.

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