By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Sunday March 19, 2023

When Rafael Nadal first climbed into the top-10 debut on April 25, 2005, none of us had any idea that he’d remain there for nearly 18 years. The Spaniard won 22 Grand Slams, encountered myriad injuries, and moved up and down the rankings for nearly 2 full decades, but never – not for a single week!! – did he fall out of the Top-10.



He passed Jimmy Connors to set the all-time ATP record over two years ago and was still going strong entering the season, but a string of injuries and defeats have sent him tumbling.

On Monday March 20, the inevitable finally happened. Nadal comes in at No.13 in this week's rankings, ending the longest Top 10 streak in ATP history.

Here is a list of players that logged over 500 consecutive weeks inside the Top 10.

• First there’s Nadal at 912 weeks. He started his run 4-25-2005 to 3-20-2023
• Connors is next on the list with 789 weeks at the top, a streak that lasted from 8/25/1973 to 9/24/1988.
• Next is the Swiss maestro Roger Federer who got to 734 weeks, beginning at 10/13/2002 and continuing to 10/29/2016
• Fourth is Ivan Lendl who hit 619 consecutive weeks in the Top 10 starting on 7/6/1980 and lasting til 5/9/1992
• Pistol Pete Sampras comes in at fifth with 565 weeks. His streak started on 9/9/1990 and went til 6/30/2001.
• Finally, the longest-tenured No.1 in tennis history Novak Djokovic comes in at sixth with 555 weeks inside the top 10 in succession. Nole started his streak on 3/18/2007 and it ended on 10/28/2017.