Rafael Nadal has just achieved a new milestone: 373 weeks as number 2 in the world. Interestingly, Novak Djokovic has so far spent 373 weeks as world number one, an ATP record. Compared to Djokovic, Nadal has only spent 209 weeks as world number one so far.
«Novak Djokovic has spent an ATP record 373 weeks as World No. 1. As of Monday, Oct. 17: Rafael Nadal has spent an ATP record 373 weeks as World No. 2,» a tennis analyst tweeted. On Monday, Nadal joined Djokovic in 672 weeks in the top three, making the two legends share second place behind Roger Federer, who tops the list with 750.
After his first Major title at Roland Garros in 2005, Nadal climbed into the top three. Rafa got it a few days after his 19th birthday, and he is still a member of that club almost 17 years later. Nadal is the second best link on the men’s Tour in 2022, only behind his compatriot Carlos Alcaraz.
Rafa has won two Majors this year and will have no points to defend for the rest of the year. Nadal will almost definitely finish the year in the top three, overtaking Djokovic on that list. On the other hand, Novak Djokovic has recently broken Rafael Nadal’s record on a single surface.
After winning back-to-back hard-court titles this year, in Tel Aviv and Astana, Novak Djokovic edged out Rafael Nadal and moved closer to Roger Federer for the most titles on a single surface. This is the ranking: Roger Federer – hard court: 71 titles;
Novak Djokovic – hard court: 64 titles;
Rafael Nadal – clay court: 63 titles.
According to the ranking, Novak Djokovic needs to win 8 more titles on hard courts in his career to surpass Roger Federer’s record.
Djokovic’s next tournament is the Paris Masters. Later, Djokovic will play the ATP Finals in Turin.
David Marrero with Rafa Nadal
Recently a guest on the podcast of the Spanish journalist Hugo Duran, the former 5th player in the world in doubles and winner of the Masters in 2013 together with Fernando Verdasco – David Marrero – told an anecdote about Rafael Nadal during a Davis Cup rally in 2014 just after of the US Open.
«He came in late from the US Open, took a few hours of nap, with the blankets pulled up to his neck, then he got up and the first thing he did was grab a PlayStation controller to play FIFA 15 with his teammates.»
