Roger Federer records that may never be broken: 237 consecutive weeks at No. 1

A week ago Roger Federer announced that the Laver Cup would be the last event of his professional career, and so every day since the announcement we've been highlighting one of his many, many records that may never be broken.

So far we’ve covered how he’s the only tennis player ever to win two different majors five years in a row each, his 65-match grass-court winning streak (the men’s Open Era record), his 24-final winning streak (also a men’s Open Era record), how he’s the only player ever to win 100 matches at two different majors, how he won his first seven major finals in a row (another men's Open Era record), and most recently how he reached 10 major finals in a row, as well as 23 straight semifinals and 36 straight quarterfinals (all-time men's record, all-time men's record, all-time men's record).

Our final stat in the series is perhaps the most staggering:

237 consecutive weeks at No. 1

From February 2nd, 2004 to August 17th, 2008, Federer spent 237 weeks in a row at No. 1, far and away the longest consecutive streak at the top spot in ATP rankings history.

That’s every single week for more than four and a half years.

LONGEST STREAKS AT NO. 1 IN ATP RANKINGS HISTORY (since 1973):

• 237 weeks: Roger Federer [February 2, 2004 to August 17, 2008]
• 160 weeks: Jimmy Connors [July 29, 1974 to August 22, 1977]
• 157 weeks: Ivan Lendl [September 9, 1985 to September 11, 1988]
• 122 weeks: Novak Djokovic [July 7, 2014 to November 6, 2016]
• 102 weeks: Pete Sampras [April 15, 1996 to March 29, 1998]

To put into perspective just how long Federer’s 237-week run at No. 1 on the ATP rankings was, No. 1 on the WTA rankings changed hands a total of 14 times during that span—from Justine Henin to Amelie Mauresmo to Lindsay Davenport to Maria Sharapova, then back to Davenport, then back to Sharapova, then back to Davenport again, then to Kim Clijsters, then back to Mauresmo, then back to Henin, then back to Sharapova again, then back to Henin again, then back to Sharapova one more time, then to Ana Ivanovic, and finally to Jelena Jankovic.

There’s one more thing about Federer’s 237 weeks in a row at No. 1—not only is it the longest consecutive reign atop the ATP singles rankings, but it’s actually the longest consecutive reign atop the ATP or WTA rankings, and in singles or doubles:

LONGEST STREAKS AT NO. 1 ON ATP OR WTA RANKINGS, SINGLES OR DOUBLES:

• 237 weeks: Roger Federer, ATP singles rankings [2004-2008]
• 186 weeks: Serena Williams, WTA singles rankings [2013-2016]
• 186 weeks: Steffi Graf, WTA singles rankings [1987-1991]
• 181 weeks: Martina Navratilova, WTA doubles rankings [1986-1990]
• 163 weeks: Mike Bryan, ATP doubles rankings [2012-2015]
• 160 weeks: Jimmy Connors, ATP singles rankings [1974-1977]
• 157 weeks: Ivan Lendl, ATP singles rankings [1985-1988]
• 156 weeks: Martina Navratilova, WTA singles rankings [1982-1985]
• 145 weeks: Cara Black, WTA doubles rankings [2007-2010]
• 140 weeks: Bob Bryan, ATP doubles rankings [2013-2015]
• 134 weeks: Liezel Huber, WTA doubles rankings [2007-2010]
• 125 weeks: Todd Woodbridge, ATP doubles rankings [1995-1998]
• 122 weeks: Novak Djokovic, ATP singles rankings [2014-2016]
• 114 weeks: Ashleigh Barty, WTA singles rankings [2019-2022]
• 113 weeks: Chris Evert, WTA singles rankings [1976-1978]
• 108 weeks: John McEnroe, ATP doubles rankings [1982-1984]
• 102 weeks: Pete Sampras, ATP singles rankings [1996-1998]

Those are the only 16 players who've ever recorded 100 or more consecutive weeks at No. 1 in either ATP or WTA rankings history, singles or doubles.

Federer is the only one to do it 200 or more weeks.

ATP rankings began in 1973 for singles and 1976 for doubles, while WTA rankings began in 1975 for singles and 1984 for doubles.