Novak Djokovic stuns pundit with epic No 1 achievement

ATP Tour

James Richardson
February 27, 2023

Novak Djokovic has now held the No 1 ranking for more weeks than any other player in the history of the rankings system.

That alone would be an incredible achievement, but considering his entire career has been played alongside two all-time great players, the more you know the more impressive it is.

For former professional Alex Corretja, the achievement is evidence of the unfathomable brilliance that the Serbian exudes.

Corretja firmly believes that Djokovic is the gold standard of professionalism in tennis and puts his success down to doing so many little things absolutely perfectly.

“I’m going to tell you the truth: as a former player, I really cannot understand how he can manage to do that for so many weeks,” Corretja told Eurosport.

“I grew up looking up to Steffi Graf and watching her all the time, practising hard. I was always wondering how difficult it must be to keep such a high level for so many weeks in your life.

“But now with this from Novak, it is unheard of. It is something that is even difficult to understand for people who have played the same sport.

“This is very unique. It shows so much love for tennis and so much respect for himself – and in the end, for the sport in general because you need to take care of yourself a lot.

“You need to be careful about what you eat, the recovery and the way you prepare for yourself. So that is why I am very impressed.

“The thing is, I think he wants to keep going. It is not like this is going to be it. No, I think he is going to set the bar even higher.”

Corretja said that the rankings achievements outstrip winning Grand Slams because of the consistent effort required to stay on top including a hectic travel schedule.

He believes that there will be few records that Djokovic doesn’t break.

“Yes, it is because you need to deal with totally different situations,” he said. “It is not just playing tennis.

“It is about travelling around the world, adapting to different countries and surfaces, accepting all the pressure that it brings to your game, and all the expectations from the outside.

“Of course, you always consider yourself a privileged person because you have been doing what you like, and it is well known and well paid. But that does not mean that it is not a big commitment, you know.

“It is a big thing that you are also willing to do all of that for a long time, and you do not have enough with a little bit – you keep on going.

“All of that shows, in the end, that you love your game, you love the sport of tennis in general, and you also love to break records.

“I also believe for Novak that it is something motivating for him. I believe he is thinking ‘okay, now I will chase this record; now I would like to go for one more major to see if I can pass Rafa’.

“It is a challenging situation and it is something to get motivated with when you are going on court again and again, and playing in different tournaments.

“So I think Novak may go on and break most of the records in men’s and women’s tennis.”

Novak Djokovic