When Nole takes the court for his quarter-final match at the All England Club on Wednesday, he will have maintained his standing atop the ATP Rankings for an entire year, having ascended to world no.1 after his victory over Rafael Nadal in last year’s Wimbledon final on July 4, 2011.
Reflecting on being at the top position for a year, the five-time Grand Slam winner said: “It was obviously always my ambition and my career goal to be the best at what I do. I’ve been dedicating my whole life to this sport, and I was able to achieve my goals last year in Wimbledon to win my dream tournament and then become no.1.”
The 25-year-old Belgrade native triumphed on his Grand Slam debut as the top-ranked player at the 2011 US Open, followed it up by successfully defending his crown at the Australian Open in January, and reached his first Roland Garros final in Paris last month.
“After everything finished, everything calmed down, I was hungry for more success,” Nole said. “I’m playing the best tennis of my life at this moment, and I’m trying to stay where I am as much as I can. But I’m not thinking about rankings too much. I just try to focus hard on every tournament, try my best at the major events, and I guess the rankings will follow up.”
Novak has put together the fourth-longest run at no.1 since making his debut atop the ATP Rankings.
Here are the players with the longest runs at no.1 after taking over the top ranking for the first time:
1. Roger Federer (237)
2. Jimmy Connors (160)
3. Lleyton Hewitt (75)
4. Novak Djokovic (53* through second week of ’12 Wimbledon)
5. Rafael Nadal (46)
Photo: Getty Images
