World number one Novak Djokovic added another Grand Slam in his trophy cabinet, when he defeated Russia’s Daniil Medvedev in straight sets to win his ninth Australian Open title in February. The Serb, who is within tantalising reach of Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal’s all-time men’s title of 20, has now equalled Federer`s all-time record for most weeks as ATP world number one on Monday.
The Serb has held the spot for the 310th week and he will soon overtake Federer’s record in the coming week.
Djokovic, who won his 18th Grand Slam title last month, has asserted that his focus will now be on flexing his calendar and focus on Slams to chase down the joint-record held by Federer and Nadal.
“Now, after achieving the historic number one for the longest weeks at number one, it`s going to be a relief for me because I`m going to focus all my attention on Slams mostly,” the Serb had said after his title triumph at Melbourne Park.
“When you are going for number one ranking, you kind of have to be playing the entire season and you have to be playing well, you have to play all the tournaments. My goals will adapt and will shift a little bit, which means that I will have to adjust also my calendar – not have to, but I will have an opportunity to do that which, as a father and a husband, I`m really looking forward to that.”
Meanwhile, this is Djokovic’s fifth stint at top of the world rankings. The Serb had reclaimed the top spot from Nadal in February last year and finished as the year-end number one for the sixth time – tying the record set by American great Pete Sampras.
– with Reuters inputs
