Nadal Celebrates 200 Weeks At No. 1 In ATP Rankings

Rafael Nadal is today celebrating his 200th week at No. 1 in the ATP Rankings.

Only five other players since 1973 have been ranked at the summit of men’s professional tennis for more weeks: Jimmy Connors (268), Ivan Lendl (270), Novak Djokovic (275), Pete Sampras (286) and record-holder Roger Federer (310).

ALL-TIME WEEKS AT NO. 1

Nadal, who replaced Djokovic at World No. 1 on 4 November, enjoyed a stellar 2019 season, capturing four titles — including two Grand Slams (Roland Garros and the US Open) and two ATP Masters 1000s (Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome and the Coupe Rogers in Montreal) — and compiling a 58-7 match record. He also reached the Australian Open final (l. to Djokovic) in January and has contested three Grand Slam finals in a calendar year on four occasions (also 2010-11, 2017).

The 33-year-old, who first rose to the top spot on 18 August 2008, is the oldest player to finish year-end No. 1 in the history of the ATP Rankings (since 1973). He is also the fifth player to finish the year at No. 1 on five or more occasions, following in the footsteps of Sampras (6), Connors (5), Federer (5) and Djokovic (5).

Nadal (9,985) has an 840-point lead over Djokovic (9,145) in the ATP Rankings. Nadal will begin his 2020 ATP Tour season representing Spain at the inaugural ATP Cup in Perth, while Djokovic features for Serbia in Brisbane.

AT 200 WEEKS AT NO. 1… – Look at the ages and records of Federer, Sampras, Lendl, Connors, Djokovic and Nadal in their 200th week at No. 1 in the ATP Rankings.