Novak Djokovic’s unshakable reign as world No 1 may reach an incredible milestone
Novak Djokovic has his eyes set on more records in 2024 and one that looks certain to be extended is his reign as the world No 1.
Carlos Alcaraz had a chance to dethrone Djokovic at the Australian Open if he progressed further than the 10-time champion in Melbourne, but his defeat against Alexander Zervev in the quarter-finals ended that ambition.
That result appears to have ended any hope Alcaraz has of returning to the top of the ATP rankings for most of 2024 as the next few months are likely to see Djokovic extend his lead at the top.
The Serbian was not allowed to enter America last year to play at the Indian Wells and Miami Masters, with Alcaraz reaping the rewards as he won the first of those events and reached the semi-final of the second.
So the young Spaniard will have 1,360 points dropping off his ranking in March and while he will have a chance to reclaim that haul in those two tournaments, Djokovic will have a chance to challenge for the 2,000 ranking points he was blocked from competing for when he returns to Indian Wells and Miami.
Alcaraz then has plenty of points to defend in a clay court season that saw him win titles in Barcelona and Madrid before he looks to defend his grass court wins at Queen’s Club and Wimbledon in June and July.
So Djokovic has a good chance to pull clear of Alcaraz in the rankings through to the end of July, with the threats to his No 1 ranking more likely to come from Daniil Medvedev, Jannik Sinner or Alexander Zverev.
If Medvedev won the Australian Open, he would close in on Djokovic at the top of the rankings and Sinner also has a big chance to close the gap on the top ranking as he has fewer points to defend than Alcaraz over the next few months.
Zverev could be a dark horse to push for the world No 1 ranking as he was making his way back from a serious ankle injury and will fancy his chances of collecting more points than he did a year ago heading into the clay and grass court seasons.
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Djokovic has already spent 409 weeks at the top of the ATP rankings, which makes him the most successful No 1 in the history of the men’s game by some distance.
With the rankings shaping us as they are right now, there is a chance Djokovic could go through 2024 at the top of the ATP list and that would draw him close to what would be a remarkable milestone of 500 weeks as No 1, which he could set mid-way through 2025.
“I was never satisfied with anything else but No 1,” said Djokovic. “I always wanted to win Wimbledon and be No. 1. Those were the two childhood dreams
“It always has been a huge objective and huge goal of mine to be No 1 in the world. Other than Grand Slams, that’s what counts the most.
“I said I wanted to be No 1 from an early age, so to achieve it and stay there for as long as I have is very special.
“I had two guys in Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal in this era and that made it difficult, but all of a sudden you get to No 1 and stay there for some time and the mindset changes.
“Suddenly you start climbing the list for the most weeks at No 1 and it is amazing to have been there for 400 weeks and now even more.
“You need that consistency of results to stay there as long as I have and that is all about peaking for the big events than have the most ranking points.
“I wanted to break the record for the most weeks of No 1 and it was very satisfying to do that.”
