Google News
Another improved prestige stat: thanks to an incredible performance at the Australian Open 2023, in which he soon became the absolute protagonist of the tournament, Novak Djokovic is rewriting his already many records, as well as obtaining new records and prestigious positions in some special rankings.
Among these, the Serbian champion has officially joined the top 5 tennis players with the most matches played in history on the ATP Tour: a figure that demonstrates the great continuity of the Belgrade native, who at 35 can still obtain many satisfactions and not only at the Grand Slam level.
In the rankings, Jimmy Connors leads with 1,561 matches played in total. Instead, the Swiss champion Roger Federer stopped at an altitude of 1526, recently retired but still in a fairly calm second position at the moment. To complete the podium is Ivan Lendl with 1312, followed by (fourth) the Spaniard Rafael Nadal with 1288 and with the possibility of reaching third place.
Nole reached fifth place together with Guillermo Vilas, who will be completely surpassed in the final that the Serbian will play at the Australian Open on Sunday 29 January against Stefanos Tsitsipas.
This is the current top 5 of the special ranking:
Jimmy Connors (1561)
Federer (1526)
Ivan Lendl (1312)
Rafael Nadal (1288)
Novak Djokovic (1248)
An impressive career
At 35, Djokovic is showing the entire ATP Tour an incredible physical condition, which could naturally allow him to further extend his career (and also his domination?).
Despite the initial problems in his left thigh, the Serbian held up in the first few outings and got back to his best form when it came to going really seriously. The clear victory especially over Andrey Rublev, as well as against the American Tommy Paul, demonstrated the still high value of the game that Nole can express on the court.
The the wins in the final against Stefanos Tsitsipas. The continuity is also highlighted in the matches played in total on the tour: only in recent years has the Belgrade native had to start downsizing his programming, skipping a few more Masters 1000s but still managing to leave his mark in every season.