Novak Djokovic has broken another record in his career and this time his achievement has been recognized in a unique way back in his home country of Serbia.
On Monday the 18-time Grand Slam champion entered his 311th week as world No.1 to become the first player in history to do so on the ATP Tour after overtaking nemesis Roger Federer. It is the latest ranking-related accolade for Djokovic who also holds the record for the oldest year-end No.1 player in the Open Era. He has finished six seasons at the top of the rankings which has only ever been achieved by his idol Pete Sampras.
In tribute to the latest achievement of the Serbian tennis star architect and street artist Andrej Josifovski has created a mosaic of Djokovic made entirely out of tennis balls. Josifovski used 2177 balls to make the piece which is 2.7 meters wide and 3.8 meters high. Named #2177 it was revealed to the public at the Novak Tennis Center in Dorcol, Belgrade.
“The balls are fastened onto a wire mesh, which symbolizes the unsuccessful attempts to bring Novak down from the tennis throne. However, that’s not the case because of unforced errors of his rivals, but because he is simply better than everyone in many tennis skills,” Josifovski told The Serbian Telegraph.
“Even among tennis experts, there is no doubt that his return and two-handed backhand are the best in the world, and that his movement and coverage of the court is out of this world.”
It took three days to make the mosaic of Djokovic with the last ball being placed at 3am Sunday morning. The world No.1 was involved in the development of the piece himself in a rather unique way. Taking to the court blindfolded he hit a series of balls which were spray painted at the frame of the structure. Those that landed within the frame marked where the ‘artistic installation’ was meant to take place.
“His constant assistance to disadvantaged children, large donations towards education, preschool programs, healthcare, the fight to increase the wages of the lower placed players on the ATP tour, his care for his colleagues and for the future of the sport… make him a true hero,” the artist commented.
Djokovic first reached No.1 on July 4th 2011 and has held the position at some point almost every year since with the only exception being in 2017. His longest run as world No.1 took place between 2014-2016 where he was at the top of the standings for 122 weeks.
Since Djokovic became world No.1 for the first time, he has held the position for 311 out of 484 weeks which equates to 64% of that period.
Djokovic’s No.1 stints
| Stints At No. 1 | W-L Record | vs. Top 10 | Finals Record |
| 4 July 2011-8 July 2012 | 63-12 (.840) | 18-9 (.667) | 4-4 |
| 5 November 2012-6 October 2013 | 62-9 (.873) | 18-6 (.750) | 5-2 |
| 7 July 2014-6 November 2016 | 167-17 (.908) | 60-9 (.870) | 21-5 |
| 5 November 2018-3 November 2019 | 58-10 (.792) | 13-4 (.857) | 5-2 |
| 3 February 2020-present* | 37-5 (.881) | 8-1 (.888) | 4-0 |
| Totals | 387-53 (.880) | 117-30 (.796) | 39-13 |
(Data from atptour.com)
