No 1 Club

Djokovic leads ATP No. 1 Club members driving their country

When Novak Djokovic embarked on his professional career in 2003, no Serbian man had ever cracked the Top 10 in the PIF ATP Rankings. Tennis was not a national pastime, nor was there a blueprint for reaching the sport’s pinnacle, but Djokovic has since redefined possibilities with his achievements.

Serbia is one of nine countries to have produced only one member of the ATP No. 1 Club. ATPTour.com runs through those who remain a unique pioneer in their homeland’s sporting history.

Serbia (Novak Djokovic)
More than two decades since he turned pro, Djokovic has spent a staggering record 428 weeks as No. 1, first reaching top spot on 24 July 2011 to become the first Serbian man to achieve that feat.

“I was never satisfied with anything else but No. 1,” Djokovic said in 2023. “I always wanted to win Wimbledon and be No. 1, those were my two childhood dreams.”

Djokovic claimed his maiden tour-level title in Amersfoort in 2006 and has amassed a total of 99 during his career, sitting one shy of joining Jimmy Connors (109) and Roger Federer (103) as the only men to hit the century mark. The Serbian is a record seven-time Nitto ATP Finals champion and the all-time leader for most Grand Slam men’s singles titles in history (24).

When it comes to longevity at No. 1, Djokovic’s dominance is unmatched. Having surpassed Federer for the most weeks atop the PIF ATP Rankings in 2021, Djokovic took ownership of that record across the men’s and women’s games by eclipsing Stefanie Graf with his 378th week at No. 1 on 27 February 2023.

More than just a champion, Djokovic is a national icon. He led Serbia to its first Davis Cup title in 2010, and the inaugural ATP Cup crown in 2020, before topping it off last year by winning his maiden Olympics gold medal in Paris. Countryman Janko Tipsarevic reached a career-high No. 8 in the PIF ATP Rankings in 2012, but Djokovic remains Serbia’s lone ATP No. 1 Club member.

Austria (Thomas Muster)
Six years after making his Top 10 debut, Muster reached No. 1 in the PIF ATP Rankings for the first time on 12 February 1996. He won 44 tour-level trophies during his career, including at Roland Garros in 1995, when he became the first Austrian major winner until Dominic Thiem won the 2020 US Open.

Brazil (Gustavo Kuerten)
‘Guga’ was a clay-court magician who captured the hearts of tennis fans worldwide. The three-time Roland Garros champion became Brazil’s first World No. 1 on 4 December 2002, holding the position for a total of 43 weeks.

Chile (Marcelo Rios)
Known for his artistic style, Rios became the only South American to claim the World No. 1 position on 30 March 1998, the year in which he claimed a spectacular ‘Sunshine Double’ across Indian Wells and Miami. The Chilean, who won 18 tour-level titles, remains the only player to reach top spot without winning a major trophy.

Germany (Boris Becker)
Having endured 109 weeks as the No. 2 player, Becker finally surpassed great rival Ivan Lendl for top spot on 28 January, 1991, when the German won the Australian Open for the fifth of his six career Grand Slam titles.

Great Britain (Andy Murray)
Once a longtime rival of Djokovic, but now his current coach, Andy Murray also remains the only man from his country to hold World No. 1 status. The Briton famously ended the Big Three’s stranglehold on the top spot on 7 November 2016, capping off a career-best season with nine titles.

The ninth of those came the week after he first rose to World No. 1, in London at the Nitto ATP Finals. Murray dethroned Djokovic in the championship match to earn his maiden crown at the season finale and simultaneously seal his first ATP Year-End No. 1 presented by PIF finish.

Italy (Jannik Sinner)
Since becoming the first Italian man and 29th player in history (since 1973) to rise to the top on June 10, 2024, Sinner has further cemented his status with a growing list of accomplishments. The 23-year-old produced a dazzling campaign last year, ending the season with a 73-6 record, claiming eight titles, including his first two majors at the Australian Open and US Open, as well as guiding Italy to its second consecutive Davis Cup crown.

Romania (Ilie Nastase)
The first-ever No. 1 in the PIF ATP Rankings, Nastase claimed 16 tour-level titles in 1973, a single-season tally only matched in the Open Era by Rod Laver in 1969 and Guillermo Vilas in 1977. The Romanian had won 12 of those titles when the PIF ATP Rankings were introduced for the first time on 23 August 1973.

Switzerland (Roger Federer)
A generational icon, Federer first rose to the top of the PIF ATP Rankings on 2 February 2004. After five players had risen to the summit in 2003, Federer made it his own in 2004 and would not relinquish his place for a record 237 consecutive weeks, before Rafael Nadal debuted as No. 1 in August 2008.

Learn more about the ATP No. 1 Club here.