FILE: TENNIS - Switzerland's Roger Federer breaks Jimmy Connors' longstanding record for consecutive weeks at top of the world's tennis rankings

Switzerland's Roger Federer has broken Jimmy Connors' longstanding record for consecutive weeks at the top of the world's tennis rankings. Roger Federer set a new record for men's tennis dominance on Monday (February 26), when he celebrated his 161st consecutive week as world number one. The Swiss eclipsed Jimmy Connors's 30-year-old milestone after extending a streak that began on Feb. 2 2004. American Connors enjoyed 160 weeks as the world's top-ranked player between July 1974 and August 1977. The Swiss master is guaranteed to leave that benchmark far behind as his closest rival, Spain's Rafael Nadal, trails the 25-year-old by 3,415 points in the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) entry system. When the ATP updated the rankings at around 0500 GMT, they showed Federer atop with 8,120 points and Nadal on 4,705. The rest lag far behind with American Andy Roddick in third place on 2,830. Such is Federer's dominance in the sport, the Swiss made sure he would overtake Connors by winning the season-ending Masters Cup in November. The only tournament he has played since was last month's Australian Open, where he became the first man in 27 years to win a grand slam title without dropping a set. Federer's triumph at Melbourne Park gave him a 10th grand slam title. He returned to action at the Dubai Tennis Championships against Kristian Pless of Denmark.

ITN Source | February 27, 2007

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