By Roberto Ferri
On 27th February the world is celebrating two great events: International Polar Bear Day and Novak Djokovic’s 378 weeks at top spot in the ATP Rankings.
In such a wearing and competitive sport, as is tennis, 378 weeks – though not consecutive – as No. 1 in the world is a record which deserves to be cherished just as other iconic records in sport such as Bob Beamon’s 8.90 metres jump in the 1968 Olympic Ganes in Mexico City, or the high jump record of 2.45 metres set by Javier Sotomayor in 1993 which is still unbeaten.
No tennis player has ever gone so far. Steffi Graf stands – definitively, save for an unlikely comeback – in second place, with her 377 weeks of reign over women’s tennis.
We may be wrong, yet we feel that it will be Novak’s descendants who will have to inform him through a séance that his record has been beaten by another tennis player.
After paying due tribute to the anthropophagus Serbian, let’s take a look at the new TOP 20.
| Position | Player | Country | Pts | +/- |
| 1 | Djokovic | Serbia | 6980 | |
| 2 | Alcaraz | Spain | 6780 | |
| 3 | Tsitsipas | Greece | 5805 | |
| 4 | Ruud | Norway | 5515 | |
| 5 | Fritz | USA | 3660 | 2 |
| 6 | Rublev | Russia | 3405 | -1 |
| 7 | Medvedev | Russia | 3320 | 1 |
| 8 | Nadal | Spain | 3315 | -2 |
| 9 | Auger-Aliassime | Canada | 3245 | |
| 10 | Rune | Denmark | 3161 | |
| 11 | Hurkacz | Poland | 3065 | |
| 12 | Norrie | GB | 2815 | 1 |
| 13 | Sinner | Italy | 2655 | -1 |
| 14 | Khachanov | Russia | 2470 | |
| 15 | Tiafoe | USA | 2350 | |
| 16 | Zverev | Germany | 2320 | |
| 17 | Carreno Busta | Spain | 2240 | |
| 18 | Musetti | Italy | 1855 | |
| 19 | Kyrgios | Australia | 1825 | |
| 20 | Coric | Croatia | 1815 |
The most breaking news in the top 10 is Taylor Fritz’s fifth position. No USA player had ever risen so high since Andy Roddick in 2009.
Cameron Norrie, by winning in Rio, overtakes Jannik Sinner and moves closer to the Top 10. With such form and the hard court season about to kick off he is entitled to harbour great expectations. Does anyone remember his 2021 triumph in Indian Wells?
Daniil Medvedev is striding up. After his win over Andy Murray in Qatar he is 7th. The tennis he has been exhibiting over the last weeks suggest he’s on the way to even higher peaks.
Rafa Nadal, sidelined by his hip injury, drops to No.8.
PEPPERSTONE ATP RACE TO TURIN
The race to Turin, the battle to be among the 8 players of the ATP Finals, is going to be long fought. This week it’s Cameron Norrie and Daniil Medvedev’s turn to assert their ambitions. The other winner of the week, Hubert Hurkacz, who pocketed his sixth title in Marseille, is 9th, with the same points as Carlos Alcaraz.
| Position | Player | Country | Pts |
| 1 | Djokovic | Serbia | 2250 |
| 2 | Tsitsipas | Greece | 1470 |
| 3 | Norrie | GB | 1065 |
| 4 | Medvedev | Russia | 930 |
| 5 | Khachanov | Russia | 810 |
| 6 | Paul | USA | 785 |
| 7 | Sinner | Italy | 775 |
| 8 | Fritz | USA | 735 |
NEXT GEN RACE
Carlos Alcaraz has taken the lead of the rankings of players aged 21 and under. The best 8 will take part in the Next Gen ATP Finals staged in Milan in November. Arthur Fils, the new man of French tennis, gains another position thanks to his semifinal in Marseille and is third.
Dominique Stricker leaps to 7th place thanks to his win in the ATP Challenger in Rovereto. The Jordanian talent, Abedallah Shelbayh holds on at No.8
| Position | Player | Country | Pts | YOB | ATP Rank |
| 1 | Alcaraz | Spain | 550 | 2003 | 2 |
| 2 | Shelton | USA | 380 | 2002 | 41 |
| 3 | Fils | France | 330 | 2004 | 104 |
| 4 | Rune | Denmark | 315 | 2003 | 10 |
| 5 | Cazaux | France | 138 | 2002 | 217 |
| 6 | Musetti | Italy | 135 | 2002 | 18 |
| 7 | Stricker | Switzerland | 116 | 2002 | 120 |
| 8 | Selbayh | Jordan | 109 | 2003 | 278 |
BEST RANKING
Seven players in the TOP 100 have achieved their career highest.
| Player | Position | Country |
| Fritz | 5 | USA |
| Griekspoor | 39 | Netherlands |
| Zapata Miralles | 42 | Spain |
| Ymer | 59 | Sweden |
| Kubler | 71 | Australia |
| Varillas | 77 | Peru |
| Gomez | 89 | Ecuador |
Translated by Kingsley Elliot Kaye
