ATP: Rafael Nadal's most loyal top ten competitors of the last 17 years
Who has been in the top ten of the ATP rankings together with Rafael Nadal for the longest time in the last 17 years? A motivated Twitter user processed the answer in a nice table.
by Stefan Bergmann
last edit: Apr 27, 2022, 03:55 pm
Unbelievable what Rafael Nadal has done for tennis. Being in the top ten of the world's best in an individual sport for 17 years, together with the 21 Grand Slam titles that the Mallorcan has collected in his impressive career (so far), is probably one of the greatest achievements of the Spaniard, who is used to success. Within the long period from April 25, 2005 to April 25, 2022, a lot of world-changing things happened - global economic crises, a corona pandemic, wars in Iraq, Yemen, Afghanistan and now also in Ukraine - but Nadal has for Continuity ensured at least in tennis.
During those 866 weeks, who were the players who spent the longest periods in the top ten in the world with the "Manacor bull"? A question to which Twitter user "AnnaK4Ever" found all the answers. So it is hardly surprising that Roger Federer is at the top of the list with 825 weeks together. The great rivalry between the two living legends was no coincidence - after all, "Fedal" faced each other a total of 40 times over the years as competitors on the courts of the ATP tour.
From Andre Agassi to Carlos Alcaraz
It goes without saying that number two on the list is none other than Novak Djokovic, who, along with Andy Murray, was one of the top four of our favorite sport in the last decade of tennis. With 731 weeks, the Serb has a clear lead over the Scottish man of honor, who, however, has not been able to return to his old strength in recent years due to his multiple hip problems and still brings together a considerable sum with 494 top ten weeks together.
The rest of the list reads like a who's who of men's tennis - partly from another time. Because names like Andre Agassi (50 weeks), Lleyton Hewitt (48) but also Nikolay Davydenko (268), Robin Söderling (108) or Mikhail Youzhny (26) let a true tennis connoisseur drift into more nostalgic feelings. Incidentally, the newest member of the illustrious circle is Carlos Alcaraz, who, exactly 17 years after Nadal, was able to break into the top ten tennis players in the world for the first time. By the way: The only German who can be found in the list is Alexander Zverev at 230 weeks. With Dominic Thiem (260) and Jürgen Melzer (17), there are even two Austrians in the overview.