"Digging up graves to ensure you dim his light" - Novak Djokovic's fans rubbish new stat suggesting he is far from the most weeks at No. 1 record

Novak Djokovic’s fans are both amused and annoyed at the emergence of a new statistic which suggests that the Serb is still far from becoming the tennis player with the most weeks as World No. 1.

On Monday, February 20, Novak Djokovic equaled Steffi Graff’s long-standing record for most weeks as No. 1. Graff and Djokovic are now joint holders of the record, with 377 weeks at the top.

The 35-year-old will surpass the retired Graf’s record next week, with Carlos Alcaraz placed right below.

Djokovic's fans are understandably thrilled at this development. Many of them are looking forward to next Monday, when the 22-time Grand Slam champion will stand as the sole owner of the record.

But a social media page on tennis updates recently tried to subdue the fans’ excitement by posting a new stat showing Bill Tilden (1893-1953) to be the player holding the record, with 723 weeks as World No. 1. Tilden is supposedly followed by Rod Laver at 452 weeks and Tony Wilding at 378 weeks. According to this list, Novak Djokovic is only in fourth place.

It is worth noting that the current ranking system was introduced in 1973, five years after the commencement of the Open Era. Not surprisingly, many fans declared that the outdated stats were of no real value.

“This is a bit ridiculous, there is no equivalence between these periods and the only period where rankings actually exist is the Open Era. Tilden played when there were massive barriers for players outside of a few select countries to actually play Tennis around the world.” one fan said.

Many other fans took sarcastic digs at the source.

“Big Bill Tilden? Tony Wilding? Seriously? Very disappointed you did not go back to 17th century Jeu de Paume stars,” yet another individual remarked.

Here are a few more reactions from fans:

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Novak Djokovic scheduled to play at the Dubai Tennis Championships next

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Novak Djokovic is enjoying an extended break after winning back-to-back titles at the Adelaide International 1 and the Australian Open.

While the World No. 1 is 590 points ahead of Carlos Alcaraz, he does face a threat to the top spot. Alcaraz is set to defend his title at the ATP 500 in Rio this week, with many expecting him to come out on top and close the gap on Djokovic.

The Serb would therefore look to come out all guns blazing at his next tournament – the Dubai Tennis Championships, which will be held from February 27 to March 4.