The historic No. 1: How Novak Djokovic's attitude towards records sets him apart from everyone else

The dream

In an interview on Serbian television way back when he was barely seven of age, a rather adorable Novak Djokovic had expressed how he crushed his opponents with forehands, backhands and volleys. In the same sitting, he had also announced his dream of becoming World No. 1 someday.

At that time, Pete Sampras was the reigning king of men's tennis. As an athlete, Sampras towered far above his peers. The few times his game couldn't dominate, he made sure his body did - with his patented slam dunk smash being one of his most intimidating moves.

So for Novak Djokovic to realize his dreams and unseat someone like Pete Sampras, he would obviously require great muscles. And greater ambitions.

He did end up having both of those things, and he has used them to achieve one of the most prestigious records in tennis. Nearly a decade since he first wove his childhood dream into a reality, Novak Djokovic has now officially spent the most time at the top of the men's game, surpassing Roger Federer's previous record of 310 weeks.

The goal

Novak Djokovic's 'Big Day' is finally here. But even before it was, he'd been making sure everyone knew it was coming.

Ever since tennis resumed last year following the pandemic break, Novak Djokovic has been pretty vocal about his professional goals. To cap off a fine 2020, the Serb equalled Sampras' record of six year-end finishes as World No. 1 and stated how he wished to improve further and break more records. He was looking to become the 'historic number one'.

Novak Djokovic with his 6th Year-End Number 1 Trophy at the Nitto ATP Finals in 2020

What he set out to do wasn't easy. Since the ATP rankings were first offcially published on 23 August 1973, only 26 men have risen to the top. If we delve a bit further, we realize that out of those 26 greats, only five had previously held the record for having spent the most weeks there, in their own time.

1. Ilie Nastase: the first World No. 1, spending 40 weeks.
2. Jimmy Connors: the third World No. 1, improving the previous record to 268 weeks.
3. Ivan Lendl: the sixth World No. 1, improving the previous record to 270 weeks.
4. Pete Sampras: the 11th World No. 1, improving the previous record to 286 weeks.
5. Roger Federer: the 23rd World No. 1, improving the previous record to 310 weeks.

So if you're ever setting a goal where your probability of success is close to nil, you should probably look at Novak Djokovic to draw inspiration from. And if you're ever wondering how high you should set the bar - whether it is the absolute or the relative scale that you derive your greatest joys from - well, even then you should look no further than Djokovic.

The evolution of the dream to the goal

Everyone loves to make comments or judgments in hindsight. And that's because it relieves them of the pressure involved in a forecast.

From the simplest of plays in tennis, where the outcome of an attempted winner is used to determine whether the shot was genius or foolery, to the not-so-simple proclamation of your lofty goals that gets classified as impressive or stupid, it's always easier to speak after the event has transpired. In simpler words, it is easier to assign a label to an adventure once it is complete, or at least close to completion, than when it is far away.

Novak Djokovic with his 9th Australian Open title at Melbourne.

When Novak Djokovic states that his professional goals are to break the biggest records in tennis, we need to consider that he is doing so owing to his proximity towards them. That's how he is separating a goal from a dream, and that's how most accomplished people across other spheres of life operate too.

But what separates Novak Djokovic from the others is citing records as goals.

The difference

When Rafael Nadal is questioned about his accomplishments with respect to those of his rivals, he says he is delighted with what he has achieved and that he isn't preoccupied by the lesser or greater success of his contemporaries. When Roger Federer is questioned on his records, he stresses on his happiness to have held them at least once, for he won't be around to protect them forever.

Novak Djokovic, however, is a different beast altogether.

To illustrate this point, let us consider that while nothing in the world is absolutely absolute, the degree of relativity involved increases as you incorporate more entities into your system for the sake of comparison. A tennis match is played between two players. So you might argue that winning a tournament itself implies being better than others (the relative scale), more than being the best version of yourself (the absolute scale).

But most players claim to derive satisfaction from their own performance, and not their performance with respect to that of somebody else. And that remains constant whether they're talking about a tournament, or their whole career.

That is where Novak Djokovic's approach of setting records as goals is at variance with that of the others. Djokovic derives a unique pleasure from these numbers. For him, the goal is not just about being the best of himself or the best of his time, but also about being better than anybody else ever - a trait observed more in sports fandom than among its practitioners.

Novak Djokovic in his latest victory over Roger Federer in a Slam final, at Wimbledon 2019.

Of course, there's neither a definitive ideal nor a moral correctness to the way you approach these things. Also, there's every possibility that while certain others are being modest about historic glory, Novak Djokovic is simply being honest.

The player decodes his source of motivation, and in what proportions: the love for the game, the drive for accomplishments, or something else. And in hindsight, if it rewarded you, you made a wise choice.

What lies after

Novak Djokovic is presently the holder of a unique set of accolades in men's tennis. He has held all the four Majors simultaneously and all the Masters titles at least twice, in addition to his ranking record. So maybe his drive was well-chosen and charted.

Perhaps it's only fitting for a man with such clear goals to own them. But what happens if and when he owns them all?

Bjorn Borg, still in his prime years, had announced his retirement when he was just one Grand Slam shy of Roy Emerson's then record of 12 Majors. Pete Sampras, with 14 Slams, stepped down on the back of his final win. Roger Federer spent his prime chasing down his idol, and his later years on improving upon that record.

What will Novak Djokovic, already the historic No. 1, offer to tennis when his hunger for all records is satiated? It's going to be fascinating to watch.