Former world No 7 Barbara Schett told Eurosport she “thought that Steffi Graf’s record would never be broken” and tipped Novak Djokovic to reach at least 400 weeks as the world No 1. Graf, a former 22-time Grand Slam champion, held the all-time record in tennis with 377 weeks spent at the top spot.
This Monday, Djokovic entered his 378th week at the world No 1 spot and he now owns the all-time record for the most weeks spent at the top spot. Even though the past 13 months have been one of the most challenging of Djokovic’s career, the Serb has still managed to break some records.
Considering everything, Schett believes it is absolutely impressive what Djokovic has been able to do.
Schett on Djokovic: This is not the end
“When he won the Australian Open at the beginning of the year and he became the No.
1 in the world again, I was thinking ‘how is that possible?’ Last year, two out of the four Grand Slams he was not able to play, then the one he won at Wimbledon he did not get any points. So pretty much without playing in three Grand Slams, he became world No.
1 again. I think that says a lot about Novak Djokovic and tells you how good he is. I don’t see this being the end to him being the world No. 1 as I think he will get over 400 weeks. He is still the one to beat at the moment and is the most consistent player out there.
He has really, really deserved this. It is phenomenal what he has achieved, and he rightfully has the record,” Schett told Eurosport. Meanwhile, Djokovic is playing in Dubai this week. During his pre-tournament press conference, Djokovic described surpassing Graf as “surreal.” Djokovic returned to the top spot after beating Stefanos Tsitsipas in the Australian Open final. It remains to be seen how long will Djokovic stay at the top spot.
