Rafael Nadal kicks off 800th career week in Top 5 of ATP rankings

He’s the second player in ATP rankings history to spend 800 career weeks in the Top 5, after Roger Federer.



HIGHLIGHTS: R. Nadal Def D. Goffin; Madrid 3r5:19

Today—Monday, May 9th, 2022—Rafael Nadal adds another milestone to his legendary resume, kicking off his 800th career week in the Top 5 of the ATP rankings.

He’s the second player in ATP rankings history to reach that milestone.

MOST CAREER WEEKS IN TOP 5 IN ATP RANKINGS HISTORY (incl. this week):
859: Roger Federer
800: Rafael Nadal
707: Novak Djokovic
707: Jimmy Connors

The above totals do not include the 22 weeks the ATP rankings were frozen between March and August in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. During that stretch, Nadal (No. 2), Federer (No. 4) and Djokovic (No. 1) were all ranked in the Top 5.

Nadal’s 800 non-consecutive weeks in the Top 5 includes one incredible stretch of more than 10 straight years inside the elite between 2005 and 2015.

NADAL’S CAREER WEEKS IN THE TOP 5:
522 weeks: May 9, 2005 to May 11, 2015
49 weeks: November 9, 2015 to October 17, 2016
2 weeks: April 3, 2017 to April 17, 2017
207 weeks: April 24, 2017 to September 13, 2021 (not including 22-week freeze)
3 weeks: October 18, 2021 to November 8, 2021
17 weeks: January 17, 2022 to present

Nadal is currently ranked No. 4 going into Rome this week.

MADRID, SPAIN - MAY 01: Rafael Nadal of Spain serves during a practice session on day four of the Mutua Madrid Open at La Caja Magica on May 01, 2022 in Madrid, Spain. (Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)
© Getty Images

And whenever Nadal dips out of the Top 5, he doesn’t dip much further down.

This is his 868th consecutive week inside the Top 10 since he first broke into the elite on April 25th, 2005, and he’s spent 92.2% of that time inside the Top 5.

NADAL’S 868 CONSECUTIVE WEEKS IN THE TOP 10 BY RANKING:
No. 1: 209 weeks (24.1%)
No. 2: 370 weeks (42.6%)
No. 3: 78 weeks (9.0%)
No. 4: 65 weeks (7.5%)
No. 5: 78 weeks (9.0%)
No. 6: 26 weeks (3.0%)
No. 7: 15 weeks (1.7%)
No. 8: 7 weeks (0.8%)
No. 9: 12 weeks (1.4%)
No. 10: 8 weeks (0.9%)