Rafael Nadal and the top 10: it couldn't be better
Rafael Nadal was the only player in the current decade to consistently rank among the top ten players in the world.
by Florian Goosmann
last edit: Dec 25, 2019, 06:15 pm
Despite his many injuries, Rafael Nadal was and is consistently in the top 10 between January 1, 2010 and December 31, 2019. A 100 percent yield in this decade, expressed in numbers: 3,652 days in a row. Nadal is currently number one in the world. By the way, Nadal's series goes back even further: He came in the top ten for the first time on April 25, 2005 (!) ... and hasn't left it since.
Roger Federer followed in second place with 97.7 percent and 3,568 days. We remember: Federer tore his meniscus at the beginning of 2016 and declared his season over after a short comeback in the summer, after which he slipped to 16th place at the end of the year. A flaw that he quickly remedied with his win at the Australian Open in January.
It was similar with Novak Djokovic , who took a break after arm problems in 2017 and briefly slipped to 22nd place. The Wimbledon victory in 2018 brought him back into the top 10 and even back to 1 at the end of the year - an amazing achievement at the time. A 93.1 percent top ten performance for the Djoker, Monk-like 3,400 days were and still are.
After that it gets a bit airier: Andy Murray follows with 77.33 percent, also due to injury, he was out of the top ten at the end of 2017 (after he had become number 1 at the end of 2016). Murray even dropped to 839 in the ranking, currently he has worked his way up to 125.
Thiem in the top 10 since summer 2016, Zverev since 2017
This is followed by Tomas Berdych and David Ferrer, two of the most constant players of recent years (but without a Grand Slam victory), then with Stan Wawrinka, Juan Martin del Potro, Kei Nishikori, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Marin Cilic, who also suffered injuries often thwarted the calculation. Then: Dominic Thiem , who has been consistently in the top ten since June 6, 2016 - currently with fourth place in his highest position. Expressed in numbers: 1,304 days in a row.
And Alexander Zverev ? Reached the top 10 for the first time on May 22, 2017, and has been in it continuously since July 31, 2017, a total of 912 days.