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4. John McEnroe – 21 years and 16 days (March 3, 1980)
Speaking of Americans who have taken the no.1 ranking, John McEnroe held on to it for 170 weeks. He displaced Borg from the top pedestal in the early 80s and later would alternate the position with other rivals, Jimmy Connors and Ivan Lendl. His last spell at the peak came in 1985. McEnroe had won seven Grand Slams by this time but a loss form after taking a break during the 1986 season meant he never got to add on to those titles.
3. Marat Safin – 20 years and 298 days (November 20, 2000)
Another player who rose to the no.1 ranking on the back of his first US Open win and a strong end to the season was Marat Safin. The Russian, at the time, became the youngest ever no.1 breaking McEnroe’s 20 year record. He would only remain at the pinnacle for a total of 9 weeks. His 3 periods at the top all came in between November 2000 and April 2001 interchanging each time with Brazilian Gustavo Kuerten.
2. Lleyton Hewitt – 20 years and 268 days (November 19, 2001)
Lleyton Hewiit became the youngest ever world no.1 exactly a year after Marat Saffin took the record. The Australian was top of the leaderboard for 75 weeks before a returning Andre Agassi displaced him. He would further be the no.1 for five more weeks in 2003. His ‘youngest ever’ record stood for 21 years which was little more than what John McEnroe had achieved.
1. Carlos Alcaraz Garfia – 19 years and 129 days (September 11, 2022)
Finally the man who broke Hewitt’s record and is the first teenager to be ranked world no.1, Carlos Alcaraz Garfia. He has had a meteoric rise jumping from no.32 in the world at the start of 2022. The Spaniard has won four titles this season, including the recently concluded US Open and would look to hold on to the position before the usual contenders in Nadal, Djokovic and Medvedev try to make a challenge for it.