Twenty-nine men have been ranked No. 1 since the ATP introduced its computer rankings on 23 August 1973, when Ilie Nastase was placed at the top of the first list. Novak Djokovic has spent the most weeks there, Roger Federer held it longest without a break, and Patrick Rafter held it for a single week. Alexander Zverev, the world No. 2, could become the 30th as soon as the Rolex Shanghai Masters ends on 18 October.
The table below is ordered by total weeks at No. 1. It also shows each man’s longest unbroken run at the top and the number of seasons he finished as year-end No. 1. The totals for Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz are current to 3 October 2026 and will keep changing; the other active players on the list would add to theirs only by returning to the top.
The Full List
| # | Player | Total weeks at No. 1 | Longest run (weeks) | Year-end No. 1 finishes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Novak Djokovic | 428 | 122 | 8 |
| 2 | Roger Federer | 310 | 237 | 5 |
| 3 | Pete Sampras | 286 | 102 | 6 |
| 4 | Ivan Lendl | 270 | 157 | 4 |
| 5 | Jimmy Connors | 268 | 160 | 5 |
| 6 | Rafael Nadal | 209 | 56 | 5 |
| 7 | John McEnroe | 170 | 58 | 4 |
| 8 | Bjorn Borg | 109 | 46 | 2 |
| 9 | Andre Agassi | 101 | 52 | 1 |
| 10 | Jannik Sinner* | 91 | 65 | 1 |
| 11 | Lleyton Hewitt | 80 | 75 | 2 |
| 12 | Stefan Edberg | 72 | 24 | 2 |
| 13 | Carlos Alcaraz* | 66 | 22 | 2 |
| 14 | Jim Courier | 58 | 27 | 1 |
| 15 | Gustavo Kuerten | 43 | 30 | 1 |
| 16 | Andy Murray | 41 | 41 | 1 |
| 17 | Ilie Nastase | 40 | 40 | 1 |
| 18 | Mats Wilander | 20 | 20 | 1 |
| 19 | Daniil Medvedev | 16 | 13 | 0 |
| 20 | Andy Roddick | 13 | 13 | 1 |
| 21 | Boris Becker | 12 | 9 | 0 |
| 22 | Marat Safin | 9 | 4 | 0 |
| 23= | Juan Carlos Ferrero | 8 | 8 | 0 |
| 23= | John Newcombe | 8 | 8 | 0 |
| 25= | Yevgeny Kafelnikov | 6 | 6 | 0 |
| 25= | Thomas Muster | 6 | 5 | 0 |
| 25= | Marcelo Rios | 6 | 4 | 0 |
| 28 | Carlos Moya | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| 29 | Patrick Rafter | 1 | 1 | 0 |
The Records Inside the Table
Djokovic’s 428 weeks are the most in the history of the rankings, and his eight year-end No. 1 finishes are also the most. Pete Sampras is next for year-end finishes with six. Federer’s 237 consecutive weeks are the longest single run at the top; Jimmy Connors, with 160, and Ivan Lendl, with 157, are the only other men to hold it for more than 150 weeks in one stretch.
Some of the shortest reigns belong to men who never came back. Rafter held the ranking for one week and Carlos Moya for two. Nastase’s 40 weeks and Andy Murray’s 41 each came in a single run. Ten of the 29 never finished a season at No. 1: Boris Becker, Daniil Medvedev, Marat Safin, Juan Carlos Ferrero, John Newcombe, Yevgeny Kafelnikov, Thomas Muster, Marcelo Rios, Moya and Rafter. Becker spent 12 weeks at No. 1 without being there when a season closed.
The other 19 have all been year-end No. 1. Andy Roddick is the only one of them with fewer than 20 weeks at the top in total: he held the ranking for 13 weeks, all in one run, and finished one season there.
How No. 1 Is Decided
The ranking is a rolling total of points earned over the previous 52 weeks, so the No. 1 is the player with the most points across the past year, not the best player of the current season. That second measure is the Race to Turin, which counts only the current calendar year and serves as the barometer for the year-end No. 1. GTN’s ATP rankings explainer sets out how the points are counted, and the Race to Turin tracker follows this year’s standings.
The 30th Name
Zverev has never been No. 1. He can reach the top as soon as Shanghai ends if he wins the China Open in Beijing for the first time, wins Shanghai, and Sinner fails to reach the fourth round there. Sinner withdrew from Shanghai on 3 October, which leaves the two titles as the remaining conditions. Zverev, 29, won Roland Garros and the US Open this season.
Season Snapshot — 3 October 2026
- World No. 1: Jannik Sinner, 91 weeks at the top in total. He first reached No. 1 in June 2024.
- World No. 2: Alexander Zverev, who has not yet held the No. 1 ranking.
- Carlos Alcaraz: 66 weeks at No. 1 and two year-end No. 1 finishes.
- Sinner withdrew from the Rolex Shanghai Masters (7 to 18 October) on 3 October. The Shanghai Masters guide covers the event.
This snapshot is dated and will change. The career record above does not.
