Novak Djokovic's ATP Finals victory on Sunday confirmed his status as the year-end world number one for an unprecedented eighth time and also took him to 400 weeks overall at the top of the rankings.
Djokovic has already held the year-end number-one ranking more times than any other male player, and his eighth time doing so ties him with Steffi Graf for the record on the WTA Tour.
Novak Djokovic of Serbia topped the year-end ATP rankings in 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2018, 2020, 2021, and 2022. His dominance was interrupted by Andy Murray in 2016 and Rafael Nadal in 2017.
Pete Sampras is his nearest challenger on the ATP Tour with six year-end number-one rankings, all in successive years from 1993 to 1998, with five each for Jimmy Connors, Roger Federer and Nadal.
Djokovic has pulled ahead of Martina Navratilova, who had seven to trail Graf by one on the WTA Tour where Serena Williams and Chris Evert rank next on five.
Djokovic is the first player, male or female, to spend 400 weeks on top of their tour’s rankings.
Graf is closest behind with 377 weeks, followed by Navratilova and Williams with Federer the second male player in that chart at 310 weeks – the last player, male or female, above 300.
Perhaps the most remarkable aspect of Djokovic’s dominance is how the 36-year-old has stayed at the top so long.
He has 177 weeks as number one in his 30s, more than any male player and trailing only Williams’ 196 overall. Nadal is next on that list with just 68 weeks.
Djokovic is the oldest world number one, male or female, other than Federer. The Swiss star’s final day at the top was June 24, 2018, when he was 36 years and 320 days old – should Djokovic top the rankings on or after April 6 next year, he will also claim that record.
The ATP number one ranking changed hands seven times this year as Carlos Alcaraz emerged as a serious rival to Djokovic.
The 20-year-old Spaniard beat Djokovic in the Wimbledon final to deny him a calendar-year Grand Slam and enjoyed four separate spells at number one.
As 2022 year-end number one, Alcaraz held that spot until January 29. He enjoyed another two weeks in March and April, three from May 22 to June 11 before surrendering top spot to Djokovic for a fortnight, then another 11 weeks from June 26 to September 10 before Djokovic took over for the remainder of the year.
It is the most lead changes since 1999 when Sampras had four spells and Andre Agassi two, with one each for Carlos Moya, Yevgeny Kafelnikov and Pat Rafter making for eight lead changes.
The ATP record for most lead changes in a single year is 10, which occurred in 1983 when John McEnroe, Jimmy Connors, and Ivan Lendl battled for the top spot. The WTA Tour has never had more than seven lead changes in a single year, with that mark being reached in 1995, 2002, and 2017.
