Novak Djokovic extends lead over Roger Federer in World No. 1 weeks by 2 whole years as he begins 414th week at the top

Novak Djokovic starts his 414th week as World No. 1, thus surpassing Roger Federer's stay at the top of the rankings by two whole years.

Federer previously held the record for the most number of weeks as World No. 1 at 310 but Djokovic surpassed him in 2021. The gap between the two is currently 104 weeks.

Djokovic and Federer had a strong rivalry and the former leads the head-to-head 27-24. The two locked horns in five Grand Slam finals, with the Serb winning four of them while the Swiss came out on top at the 2007 US Open.

The 36-year-old was assured as the year-end World No. 1 for 2023 during the ATP Finals and Carlos Alcaraz has been unable to produce tournament runs that could threaten his stay at the top. He is currently 1050 points above the Spaniard who is ranked second in the world.

Djokovic has played nine matches so far in 2024, winning seven of them. He started the year at the United Cup and won his matches against Zhang Zhizhen and Jiri Lehecka before being beaten by Alex de Minaur in Serbia's quarterfinal tie against Australia.

The 36-year-old then competed at the Australian Open and reached the semifinals after beating Dino Prizmic, Alexei Popyrin, Tomas Martin Etcheverry, Adrian Mannarino and Taylor Fritz. Here, he was beaten by eventual champion Jannik Sinner.

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Djokovic is set to return to Indian Wells after 5 years

Novak Djokovic at the Australian Open

Novak Djokovic will play his third tournament of 2024 at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells. It will be his first appearance at the Masters 1000 event since 2019 when he suffered a third-round exit at the hands of Philipp Kohlschreiber.

The Serb was unable to compete in the tournament in 2022 and 2023 as he wasn't allowed entry into the United States due to being unvaccinated against COVID-19.

Djokovic will be aiming to win his sixth title in Indian Wells, with his previous five victories coming in 2008, 2011, 2014, 2015 and 2016. He caught the same flight to the United States as his rival Rafael Nadal and shared an image of the two with his caption reading:

"Great company on the way to USA."

If Djokovic wins this year's BNP Paribas Open, he will become the most successful player in the history of the tournament, surpassing Roger Federer, with whom he currently holds the record for most titles.