Novak Djokovic secured the title of ATP Year-End No. 1 presented by Pepperstone for a record-tying eighth time as the ATP today released the 2023 year-end Pepperstone ATP Rankings on ATPTour.com.
Following a season-long back-and-forth with Carlos Alcaraz, Djokovic won the title at the Nitto ATP Finals in Turin. The Serbian has now finished two years ahead of Pete Sampras, who has the second-most year-end No. 1 finishes (6).
The 36-year-old accomplished the feat as a 33-year-old in 2020 and a 34-year-old in 2021, and consequently holds the three oldest ATP Year-End No. 1 titles in history (since 1973).
Following his seventh Nitto ATP Finals victory, Djokovic started his 400th week at the top of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings on Monday. The only player to surpass the 300-week mark is Roger Federer (310 weeks). With fifteen year-end finishes in the Top 3, Djokovic and Federer shared the record. It is Djokovic’s 402nd week at the top of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, and he will undoubtedly stay there until the week of January 22.
This season, Djokovic won a Tour-high seven titles and was the number one seed for 28 weeks over four different periods. Less than three months after dropping to No. 8, he first rose to the top again after winning the Australian Open. In 2023, Djokovic and Alcaraz traded the top rank seven times, which is the greatest number of changes since 2018, when there were also seven. 1983 (10) and 1999 (8) were the only years where it switched more frequently.
Alcaraz, with whom he traded the top spot during the year, placed in the year-end Top 2 for the second time in a row. Holger Rune, a twenty-year-old, finished the season ranked eighth. Since 2000, when Marat Safin (No. 2) and Lleyton Hewitt (No. 7) were 20 years old, this is the first time two players who are 20 years of age or younger have finished a full year in the Top 10.
After reaching a career-high No. 4 in August, Rune is the only new face in the year-end Top 10. He is the first Danish player to place among the year’s top 10 in the history of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings (which dates back to 1973).
When Frances Tiafoe rose to No. 10 in June of 2023, he became the only player to ever break into the Top 10. An American makes his debut in the Top 10 for the second season in a row. Taylor Fritz has now completed in the Top 10 for two years in a row after doing so last year.
With an average age of little over 25, nine players in the year-end Top 10 are 27 years of age or younger. Three players in the Top 10 who are 22 years of age or younger are Jannik Sinner, 22, Rune, and Alcaraz, who is ranked at a career-high No. 4.
Since 2009, when 21-year-old Juan Martin del Potro (No. 5), 22-year-old Andy Murray (No. 4), and 22-year-old Djokovic (No. 3), three players under the age of 22 have not been in the year-end Top 10.
TOP 10 PEPPERSTONE ATP RANKINGS FOR THE END OF 2023
Novak Djokovic is the top player on the ATP Tour with seven titles. He sets a new record by winning the eighth ATP Year-End No. 1 sponsored by Pepperstone.
2) Carlos Alcaraz – Wins second major title at Wimbledon and finishes in the Top 2 for the second year in a row.
3) Daniil Medvedev — For the second time in three years, he finishes in the year-end Top 3.
4) Jannik Sinner—in Toronto, he won his first ATP Masters 1000 trophy—climbing to a career-high No. 4.
5) Andrey Rublev – After winning his first ATP Masters 1000 title in Monte-Carlo, he finishes in the top five.
Stefanos Tsitsipas – Secures his fifth consecutive Top 10 finish at the end of the year.
7) Alexander Zverev: After sustaining a severe ankle injury in June 2022, he makes a comeback to the Top 10.
8) Holger Rune – qualified for the Nitto ATP Finals for the first time, after hitting a career-high ranking of No. 4.
9) Hubert Hurkacz: After topping the Tour in aces (1,031), Hurkacz finishes in the year-end Top 10 for the third consecutive year.
10) No. 1 Taylor Fritz American wins both of the played finals and places second in the Top 10.
Quick Facts for the 2023 Year-End Pepperstone ATP Rankings
Alex Michelsen rose 504 ranks, the most in the year-end Top 100 (from No. 601 in 2022 to No. 97 in 2023).
Arthur Fils leaped the most ranks in the year-end Top 50, rising 213 spots from No. 249 in 2022 to No. 36 in 2023.
Stan Wawrinka, who is 38 years old, is ranked No. 50 in the year-end Top 100. The Swiss ranked No. 148 going into the 2023 season.
Three teenagers, Luca Van Assche (No. 71), Alex Michelsen (No. 97), and Fils (No. 36), all 19 years old, placed among the last 100 players of the year and participated in the Next Gen ATP Finals presented by NEOM.
With Fils and Van Assche, two French teenagers have finished a year in the Top 100 for the first time since 2005, when Richard Gasquet and Gael Monfils, both 19 at the time, did so.
Fils (+213), Max Purcell (+178), Sebastian Ofner (+152), Nicolas Jarry (+134), Jan-Lennard Struff (+126), and Alexander Shevchenko (+106) are the six players that advanced at least 100 spots to finish in the year-end Top 50.
In the Top 100, 21 players aged 30 and beyond (25 in 2022, 31 in 2021, 40 in 2020) were included.
For the second year in a row, 16 players aged 25 and younger are ranked in the Top 30. Since 2008, this is the highest grade since 17.
Throughout their careers, nine of the players in the year-end Top 10 have either qualified for or participated in the Next Gen ATP Finals presented by NEOM.The United States has the most players of any nation with ten in the year-end Top 100. In 2023, Christopher Eubanks and Michelsen, two of the players, broke into the Top 100.
On December 29, 2023, the 18-country United Cup, which will be held in Perth and Sydney, Australia, will kick off the 2024 ATP Tour season.
