At 37 years and two months, Novak Djokovic is still ranked in the top-3, battling against his young rivals Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz. Novak has started his 750th top-3 week, matching Roger Federer’s record and preparing to become the record-holder next Monday.
Djokovic cracked the top-3 in 2007 following a Major final and Masters 1000 titles, establishing himself as Roger Federer’s and Rafael Nadal’s closest rival. The Serb collected more top-3 weeks in 2008 before slowing down a bit in 2009 after a couple of poor results.
Novak returned to the exclusive group by the end of the year and embraced an incredible run, remaining in the top-3 until June 2017.
Thus, the Serb collected 399 consecutive top-3 weeks, securing the third-longest streak after Ivan Lendl and Roger Federer.
Djokovic struggled with an elbow injury and missed the second part of the season following the Wimbledon setback, needing time off the court to heal the injury. Novak underwent surgery in January 2018 and required a few more months to recover his game.
It happened at Wimbledon, and Djokovic wrapped up the year with four notable titles. Novak cracked the top-3 after the US Open and closed the season at the top, passing Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer. The Serb spent almost an entire 2019 season at the top before losing the throne to Rafael Nadal.
Novak Djokovic celebrates his 750th top-3 week.
However, he added 52 top-3 weeks to his tally and became world no. 1 again in February 2020.
Djokovic stayed there until June 2022 before leaving the top-3 a few weeks later after missing a well-deserved 2000 ATP points at Wimbledon. It was a tough season for Novak, and he still closed it in the top-5 following a great run in the second part, losing three matches since Rome.
Djokovic conquered the 2023 Australian Open and regained the ATP throne, staying there by the end of the season and improving his top-3 tally. Novak has been ranked inside the top-3 since January 2023, reducing the gap to Roger and matching the Swiss this week.
Djokovic is yet to find his A-game in 2024, missing ATP titles and top-10 victories. Still, the Serb embraced three good runs at Majors, leaving Alexander Zverev and others behind and extending his top-3 journey at 37.
Novak reached the Australian Open semi-final and withdrew from Roland Garros ahead of the quarter-final, feeling the pain in his right knee and undergoing surgery. The veteran recovered by Wimbledon, beating five rivals and reaching his tenth All England Club final.
Novak faced Carlos Alcaraz for the second straight year in the title clash, suffering a 6-2, 6-2, 7-6 defeat and missing the 25th Major trophy. Djokovic is the defending champion in Cincinnati and the US Open, needing deep runs to stay in touch with Alcaraz and Sinner and keep Zverev and Medvedev behind.
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