Novak Djokovic chasing a record from Roger Federer: "raised to be honest"
Novak Djokovic has defended his openly formulated goal of attacking the tennis records of Swiss maestro Roger Federer. "Maybe some have a problem with the fact that I have the greatest ambitions and that I make it clear," said the world number one in Belgrade.
by SID
last edit: Oct 24, 2020, 10:42 am
However, he was "brought up to be honest," that is his character. Djokovic repeated his goal of surpassing Federer's record of 310 weeks at the top of the ATP rankings.
With 17 Grand Slam titles, the 33-year-old Serb is behind his rivals Federer and Rafael Nadal (both 20). At the Australian Open, where Djokovic is the record winner with eight successes, he wants to shorten the gap. To do this, he relies on changes to the entry regulations in the corona pandemic. "We hope it will get better that the quarantine period will be shortened," he said.
Australian Open fight for good conditions
Currently, anyone who wants to enter the country has to be quarantined in Australia for two weeks. The Australian Tennis Association, which will host the Grand Slam tournament in January (18th to 31st), is working with the government to make things easier for professionals. As association boss Craig Tiley announced, the players should also be able to train during the hotel quarantine.
Djokovic has been at the top of the rankings without interruption since February 3rd, in total he has so far been enthroned 291 weeks above his rivals, making him number two in the "eternal" rankings behind Federer and in front of Pete Sampras (USA / 286 weeks). The Spaniard Nadal follows in sixth place with 209 weeks. So far the only German in first place in the ATP world rankings was Boris Becker, who was at the top for twelve weeks.
Djokovic wants to get 500 points for victory at the tournament in Vienna and thus expand his cushion on the first pursuers. Should he remain at the top of the world rankings until March 2021, he would have overtaken Federer.