Novak Djokovic is relishing his reign at the top of the rankings but the Serbian has insisted that he is not fixated on the position with his main focus being elsewhere.
Earlier this week Djokovic surpassed Steffi Graf to become the longest-reigning world No.1 in history after spending 378 weeks in the top spot. He held the position for 168 weeks longer than nemesis Rafael Nadal and 67 weeks longer than Roger Federer who is the only other male player to have surpassed the 300-week benchmark on the men’s Tour. So far in his career, he has been ranked No.1 in the world during seven different periods with his longest reign being 122 weeks between July 7th 2014 and November 6th 2016.
“When I achieved the world No. 1 for the first time, in 2011, I had to set up new goals, new dreams. Being No. 1 was always the ultimate goal. That is the ultimate achievement in tennis, without a doubt,” Djokovic told reporters on Tuesday.
“I always tried to stay as long as I possibly can on that spot. I think the consistency of playing well, staying relatively healthy throughout my career and not facing too many big injuries has allowed me to have the consistency to accumulate a lot of points.”
Now that Djokovic has broken Graf’s record, some are starting to wonder if he is targeting another milestone in the future such as becoming the first player in history to spend 500 or more weeks at the top. However, the 35-year-old has played down such hype.
“I’m 36 this year, so I just don’t think at the moment this is the highest priority. I would like to stay healthy and prolong my career as much as I can to play at this highest level. That’s the one priority.” He said.
“The other priority is playing the best tennis in Grand Slams and trying to win more Grand Slams. Then if the No. 1 ranking in the world comes as a consequence of good results, I’ll be very happy.”
Djokovic returned to action this week at the Dubai Tennis Championships where he endured a tricky first round encounter. Taking on Czech qualifier Tomas Machac, he narrowly avoided a shock upset by edging out his opponent 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(1), after two-and-a-half hours of play. The rollercoaster encounter saw him hit a total of 45 winners against 28 unforced errors.
Machc was the first player the top seed has played on the Tour since the final of the Australian Open after taking a brief break from the sport. In recent weeks he has been troubled by a leg injury which he is almost fully recovered from.
“I know that after an injury, it’s going to take a little bit of time and a few matches for me to really find the groove, find the intensity on the court and find that movement,” said Djokovic.
“I made a lot of unforced errors tonight that got me into trouble.”
Djokovic, who is on a 13-match winning streak this year, will play Tallon Griekspoor in the second round.
