Rafael Nadal on Monday became the first player to be ranked in the ATP top 10 for 800 consecutive weeks, a run spanning more than 15 years.
According to Agence France-Presse, the world number two broke Jimmy Connors’ previous record of 789 straight weeks in the top 10 in November. The Spaniard first broke into the top 10 in April 2005, shortly before winning the first of his 13 French Open titles.
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The 34-year-old is still over two-and-a-half years short of matching Roger Federer’s record of spending 931 weeks in total in the top 10.
There were no changes at the top of the rankings as players prepare for the Australian Open next month.
According to the news agency, some of the sport’s biggest stars were among those told they would get no “special treatment” on Monday, with 72 players stuck in hotel quarantine in Australia after four Covid-19 cases on the chartered planes which flew players to the country.
Heres’ the list of the ATP top 10 players:
1. Novak Djokovic (SRB) 12,030 points
2. Rafael Nadal (ESP) 9,850
3. Dominic Thiem (AUT) 9,125
4. Daniil Medvedev (RUS) 8,470
5. Roger Federer (SUI) 6,630
6. Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE) 5,940
7. Alexander Zverev (GER) 5,615
8. Andrey Rublev (RUS) 4,164
9. Diego Schwartzman (ARG) 3,455
10. Matteo Berrettini (ITA) 3,120
In related news, Nadal has updated his schedule for the first quarter of the year. In a statement relayed by tennis journalist Michal Samulski on Twitter, Nadal confirmed that after his participation at the ATP Cup and the Australian Open in Melbourne, he will take part in the ATP 500 event at Rotterdam.
Rafael Nadal’s presence in Rotterdam means that the Spaniard now has a theoretical chance of preventing Novak Djokovic from breaking Roger Federer’s record for most weeks as World No. 1. The odds of Nadal overtaking Djokovic before 8 March, however, are very low.
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