Novak Djokovic is amassing such a dossier of evidence that no sober judge would dispute his claims, but debate still rages as to who is the greatest men's tennis player of all time.

The 35-year-old has now racked up 378 weeks at number one on the singles rankings, not only improving his record among the men but also this week going past Steffi Graf, the leader on the women's tour.

Djokovic has won 10 of the last 16 grand slams he has contested, all since turning 30, and has moved level with Rafael Nadal on 22 singles majors, the most ever captured by a man.

His stockpiling of Masters 1000 titles is bordering on being greedy, with a record 38 tucked away, and although he turns 36 in May there is no sign of Djokovic slowing down.

Tommy Haas snatched three wins from nine encounters with Djokovic, while the Serbian was going up through the gears early in his career.

Haas told Stats Perform he sees Djokovic as a player who wants to "end that debate" over who is the greatest, but there are good grounds to reason the man from Belgrade has already done enough.

Djokovic's compelling case

With plenty of miles left in his legs, Djokovic has already reached 33 grand slam finals (W22 L11), the most by any man. It puts him level with Serena Williams (W23 L10) and one behind Chris Evert (W18 L16), who is perhaps a surprising leader in this field.

Given his form in the past 12 months, it would be astonishing if Djokovic does not reach more slam finals this year.

He has also won 38 Masters titles – the next rung down from the grand slams – and is not just the only singles player to have won every one of these nine tournaments, he has won each one at least twice.

Djokovic's six end-of-season ATP Finals titles puts him level with Federer.

Adding together grand slams, ATP Finals crowns and Masters 1000 wins, Djokovic has 66 of these so-called 'Big Titles', seven more than Nadal, who sits second on the list. It bears pointing out the Masters events only began in 1990, so this puts players of the modern era at an advantage, but the domination of these events by the likes of Djokovic, Nadal and Federer mirrors their unprecedented grand slam supremacy.

Djokovic has an 83.5 per cent career win-loss record (W 1,043, L 206), the best of all players with at least 200 matches on tour during the Open Era (since 1968).

In the slams, his win-loss record of 341-47 gives Djokovic an 87.9 per cent winning record, just a shade behind Nadal's 88 per cent, and ahead of Federer (86 per cent).

Djokovic is rapidly closing in on overtaking Nadal's win percentage, having powered through his last 14 matches at the majors, triumphing at Wimbledon and the Australian Open.

These winning percentages at the slams by the Big Three are not the absolute highest of all time, but considering Djokovic, Nadal and Federer have regularly had to play one another over the past two decades, that is easily explained.

Only Bjorn Borg (71.1 per cent) has a higher win percentage against top-10 players than Djokovic's 69.4 per cent, but Borg's career was relatively brief, stepping off the tour in his mid-20s, with Djokovic a model of sustained excellence.

Djokovic is playing in Dubai this week, seeking more trophy success.

The expert's view

"He's the ultimate competitive warrior out there," says Tommy Haas. "He doesn't leave a stone unturned, does everything that he possibly can to be the best that he can be."

Haas is now tournament director at the Indian Wells Masters – aka the BNP Paribas Open – and he had better results than most against Djokovic, scoring wins on grass in Halle and Wimbledon in 2009 before repeating the trick on hard court in Miami four years later.

Djokovic, it can be argued, is a better player at 35 than he was at 25, and he is certainly more dominant. The man who feeds off his inner "wolf energy" has lost none of his bite.

"He's spoken about it himself many times, the sort of upbringing that he had, the experiences that he had to go through just to put so much grit in him, so much fire and fighting power. And you see it. The guy is an absolute beast out there," Haas said.

"There's no doubt in my mind that in his mind he wants to become the greatest of all time and win the most slams and end that debate and I think that's that's what he's looking to do.

"We're getting a little bit ahead of ourselves now but let's just say he does have the most slams. He's won every Masters series there is, maybe the most of all of them as well. Longest number one, most slams and then I think there is no room to argue."

Is winning enough to define greatness?

Yes. It has to be. In hand-to-hand combat, whether in war or something as relatively frivolous at tennis, it's all about getting the better of the enemy. Then it's about continuing to do so, and if it's easy on the eye, all well and good.

Roger Federer played the most sumptuous tennis that made him a bigger draw than anyone, and the Swiss great was also a sensational winner to boot, and a charmer, but Djokovic is picking off his records one by one.

Does this make Djokovic the most popular tennis player of all time? No, he rarely exhibits the warmth of personality that Federer brought, the crowd-pleasing flourishes are in shorter supply, and he brings some of the bad press and occasional crowd antipathy on himself.

But winning is the priority for Djokovic, and nobody does it better.

Haas says: "Really, can you say does he have the prettiest game or the best shot selection or this and that? Without Roger and without Rafa he would have been pushed to become that good of a player? Maybe not. And you have to always look at every generation pushing each other and all that stuff.

"And the debates can go on and on. Bjorn Borg retired when he was 26 years old, he won 11 slams. What if he would have played 10 more years? Yeah, he probably could have had 20."

But Djokovic has 22 and is hurtling towards Margaret Court's 24 slams, the most by a woman. There is no doubt he believes he can go beyond that, and keep going.

Shingo Kunieda won 28 wheelchair singles majors, and Djokovic might even get up towards that number.

For now, the number that matters is number one. Whether you like him or not, the man they call Nole is hurtling into history as the champion supreme.

Cameron Norrie avenged last week's Argentina Open final defeat to Carlos Alcaraz by fighting back to beat the injury-hit Spaniard in a back-and-forth Rio Open final on Sunday.

Defending Rio Open champion Alcaraz was hampered by an injury to his right leg as he was pegged back after taking the opener, with Norrie eventually claiming a 5-7 6-4 7-5 win.

Alcaraz performed admirably despite seeing his movement limited in a nail-biting decider, but Norrie's power ultimately proved too much as the 27-year-old took his fifth ATP career title.

Top seed Alcaraz – playing in his 10th tour-level final at the age of 19 – started well and had forced seven break points by the time he took a thrilling first set, allowing Norrie just one.

With Alcaraz stopping to have his right thigh wrapped after appearing to be in discomfort, Norrie roared back and took the second set following three straight breaks of serve.

That teed up a dramatic finish, with Alcaraz playing a series of delightful drop shots to take the first break of the decider despite playing at walking pace for long periods. 

Alcaraz stopped to tear the wrapping off his leg as the pair traded breaks in front of a lively crowd in Brazil, but it proved a bridge too far for the Spaniard as Norrie pinned him back, hitting several excellent returns to claim his first final success against a top-10 ranked opponent.  

"It's so special to win this one, especially after losing a couple of finals already this year," Norrie told Amazon Prime Video. "I had to do it the tough way, you know? 

"I was looking done there and I just managed to flip a switch and turn it around. It's a good day, especially on a surface I'm not too comfortable with. I had to battle a lot of demons in the last couple of weeks."

Hubert Hurkacz fought off Frenchman Benjamin Bonzi to land the Open 13 Provence title in Marseille on Sunday.

Poland's former Wimbledon semi-finalist scored a 6-3 7-6 (7-4), serving 19 aces as he justified his status as the tournament's top seed.

Hurkacz broke serve in the fourth game of the opening set to seize command of the match, before resisting a determined effort from Bonzi in the second set to force a decider.

A sixth win in seven ATP finals for the 26-year-old Hurkacz came when Bonzi sent a forehand just wide.

The result means Bonzi, playing his second ATP final, has again been kept waiting for a first trophy success at this level, having also lost in the Pune title match to Tallon Griekspoor at the start of the year.

Bonzi, born in nearby Nimes, was hoping to become the first French champion at this event since 2017, when Jo-Wilfried Tsonga defeated compatriot Lucas Pouille in the final.

Hurkacz praised Bonzi in an on-court interview, telling the crowd: "He played really, really well. He deserved to win the second set. I just tried to compete as hard as I can.

"I think my game's getting better, and I'm super happy with the way I competed today. I know you guys wanted Benjamin to win."

Top seed Hubert Hurkacz saw off a spirited Alexander Bublik in straight sets to seal his place in the final of the Open 13 Provence with a 6-4 7-6 (7-4) win.

The world number 11 wrapped up victory in his semi-final in Marseille without being taken to a deciding third set for the first time during his tournament run.

But he was still forced to fight for the result, after unseeded Kazakhstani Bublik pushed him hard in their encounter.

Hurkacz only broke serve once during the first set and had to hold his nerve in a second-set tie-break to finish the job.

He will face a homegrown opponent in Benjamin Bonzi in the final, after the latter won an all-French last-four encounter with wild card Arthur Fils.

The former saw off his fellow countryman 6-4 6-4 in a straight-sets triumph of his own.

Daniil Medvedev defied Andy Murray in the Qatar Open final to clinch a second title in seven days as the resurgent Russian won the battle of former world number ones.

In-form Medvedev scored a 6-4 6-4 victory on Saturday as he followed up last Sunday's title in Rotterdam with another trophy success.

Three-time grand slam winner Murray, set to jump 18 places to 52nd in the new rankings, had saved eight match points en route to the Doha final.

He pushed Medvedev hard but could not get the better of a player who will nudge up one spot to seventh in the rankings on Monday.

Murray came back from 0-40 in the opening game to force deuce, but he could not hold serve, and Medvedev soon broke again to lead 4-1.

But back came Murray, and the Briton had a break point to square up the opener at 4-4, only for Medvedev to cling on.

The second set also began with Murray dropping serve, but the 35-year-old levelled up at 3-3 with a backhand winner at the end of a terrific rally.

That raised his hopes of a full-scale fightback and a third title success at this event, plus a first tournament victory since 2019 in Antwerp, but Murray was broken from 40-0 in the ninth game, and that looked to end his hopes.

Murray saved a ninth match point of the week, albeit thanks to a double fault from his opponent, but the Scot could not do so for a 10th time, with a lob from Medvedev giving him a big win and the 17th tour-level title of his career.

Medvedev, the 2021 US Open champion, told Amazon Prime Video in a courtside interview: "It was a very tough match. I'm happy to win, today was a big fight.

"Both of us sometimes were playing bad, then suddenly both of us were playing amazing, and I'm happy to win.

"It was tough for Andy to put the ball through me many times. Now it has to continue, so I'm going to try for as long as I can."

Andy Murray will play Daniil Medvedev in the Qatar Open final after the 35-year-old came through yet another lengthy contest in his semi-final against Jiri Lehecka.

Murray appeared to be on course for a routine win after taking the first set 6-0, but was broken early in the second, eventually losing 6-3 to take him to a fourth three-set contest in four matches this week in Doha.

Lehecka should have won a hard-fought decider when 5-4 and 40-0 up on his own serve, but Murray's trademark resilience saw him break back despite facing five match points against, before ultimately winning the tie-break 8-6.

"I don't know how I managed to turn that match around," Murray said after the win. "In the 5-4 game, I think I played most of the match points really well. He missed one bad shot on the deuce point in that game at 5-4, but I played the match points pretty well.

"It's been an amazing start to the year. I have never experienced this in my whole career, like this many matches... It was sort of looking [like it might be a quicker match] for 30 minutes and then it turned into something completely different. Yeah, just amazing that I managed to turn that around."

Murray equalled Jimmy Connors for the fifth-most ATP hard court wins in the Open Era (489), and will play Medvedev in the final after the Russian's 6-4 7-6 (9-7) win against Felix Auger-Aliassime.

The Canadian had three set points in the second set tie-break to try and force a decider, but Medvedev showed determination to turn it around and seal his place against Murray in the final.

At the Open 13 Provence, number one seed Hubert Hurkacz is through to face Alexander Bublik in the semi-finals, with both also having to come through three-set matches in a deciding tie-break.

Hurkacz was finally able to overcome Mikael Ymer 6-3 3-6 7-6 (8-6) before Bublik defeated Grigor Dimitrov 7-5 3-6 7-6 (8-6).

Third seed Alex de Minaur was shocked by Benjamin Bonzi, who broke the world number 23 four times on his way to a 6-2 6-4 victory to avenge his third-round defeat at the Australian Open.

Bonzi will meet qualifier Arthur Fils in the final four after the French 18-year-old beat former world number three Stan Wawrinka 6-2 6-3 to reach a second straight tour-level semi-final.

World number two Carlos Alcaraz had to come from a set behind to defeat Fabio Fognini 6-7 (5-7) 6-2 6-4 on Thursday to advance to the Rio Open quarter-final.

The 19-year-old phenom has now won all five of his matches in 2023 after winning last week's Argentina Open, and the 2022 Rio champion is now three wins away from defending his title at South America's only ATP 500 event.

Against Fognini, Alcaraz lost the first set despite creating 11 break point opportunities, as his Italian opponent converted all four of his own chances in a back-and-forth battle. 

The Spaniard tightened up his service game down the stretch, only allowing Fognini one break point opportunity from the second and third frames combined, and he will now play Dusan Lajovic following his 6-2 6-4 win against Serbian compatriot Laslo Djere.

Chile's Nicolas Jarry is still yet to lose a set in the tournament, following up his impressive upset of third seed Lorenzo Musetti with a 6-2 6-2 triumph over Pedro Martinez.

Jarry will get a crack at another seeded opponent next when he takes on Argentina's sixth seed Sebastian Baez, who emerged victorious 7-5 7-6 (8-6) after two gruelling sets against Peru's Juan Pablo Varillas.

Fourth seed Francisco Cerundolo was eliminated 6-1 4-6 6-1 by Bernabe Zapata Miralles, who will meet Albert Ramos-Vinolas in an all-Spanish quarter-final after he fought off Daniel Elahi Galan 6-2 6-4.

Carlos Alcaraz finished the job against Brazilian wild card Mateus Alves to set up a second-round meeting with Fabio Fognini at the Rio Open.

Alcaraz's first-round meeting with Alves was halted on Tuesday due to heavy rain with the 2022 US Open champion leading 6-4 5-3, but the Spaniard clinched victory on Wednesday 6-4 6-4.

The top seed will take on 35-year-old Italian Fognini, who also was made to wait to secure his progress due to the Tuesday rain, eventually triumphing 6-2 6-3 over Chilean qualifier Tomas Barrios Vera.

Second seed Cameron Norrie endured a tough second-round tussle with local Thiago Monteiro, needing two hours and 30 minutes to triumph 7-5 7-5.

The Briton prevailed in one hour and 25 minutes in the first set against the 83rd-ranked Brazilian, while he was broken when serving for the match at 5-4 in the second frame.

Norrie, however, rallied to break straight back before securing victory after successfully serving the match out on the second attempt.

Fifth seed Diego Schwartzman was the major casualty of the day's play, going down 6-1 6-4 to Serbia's Dusan Lajovic in one hour and 29 minutes.

Brazilian veteran Thomaz Bellucci farewelled the ATP Tour after losing 6-3 6-2 to sixth seed Sebastian Baez.

Albert Ramos Vinolas, Bernabe Zapata Miralles and Hugo Dellien were also winners on Wednesday, with the latter progressing into the quarter-finals to face Norrie.

Sunday's Argentina Open champion Carlos Alcaraz was one game away from victory against Mateus Alves before heavy rain halted play at the Rio Open first round on Tuesday.

Alcaraz led 6-4 5-3 over the Brazilian wildcard, but was denied a shot at victory as rain interrupted play, which ultimately suspended for the day. Alcaraz's match is scheduled to resume on Wednesday afternoon local time.

The 2022 US Open champion had triumphed last week in Buenos Aires in his first tournament since November following injuries that kept him out of the 2023 Australian Open. Alcaraz is the reigning Rio Open champion.

Cameron Norrie, who Alcaraz beat in the Argentina Open final, progressed with a 7-5 6-1 win over Juan Manuel Cerundolo in one hour and 29 minutes.

Norrie had rallied from a 5-3 deficit in the first set to claim the opening frame, winning 10 of the final 11 games for victory.

Italian veteran Fabio Fognini's charge into the second round was also delayed on the brink of triumph, leading 6-2 5-2 against Chilean qualifier Tomas Barrios Vera when rain intervened.

Fourth seed Francisco Cerundolo won 4-6 6-3 6-3 over Roberto Carbellas Baena while Colombia's Daniel Galan and Peru's Juan Pablo Varillas were also winners on Tuesday.

Emil Ruusuvuori consigned Dan Evans to a first-round exit at the Qatar Open with a straight-sets victory on Tuesday.

Finn Ruusuvuori ousted the sixth seed with a 7-5 6-4 victory in Doha with a powerful display.

There were 26 winners from the racket of Ruusuvuori, who had only come out on top in one of his previous eight matches against top-30 opponents.

Ruusuvuori's next assignment will be a meeting with Jiri Lehecka, who saw off qualifier Damir Dzumhur 6-3 7-6 (7-3).

Roberto Bautista Agut, the fifth seed from Spain, saw the back of Marton Fucsovics 7-6 (9-7) 5-7 6-4.

Botic van de Zandschulp, Tallon Griekspoor and Soonwoo Kwon also made it through to round two.

Maxime Cressy had to dig deep to make it out of the first round of the Open 13, beating Geoffrey Blancaneaux 6-3 6-7 (5-7) 7-6 (7-4).

The fifth seed from the United States was joined in the last 16 by David Goffin, who defeated qualifier Lukas Klein 6-2 6-4.

Eighth seed Marc-Andrea Huesler made an early departure after going down in straight sets to Gregoire Barrere in Marseille.

Thiago Monteiro enjoyed a memorable victory on Monday as he defeated former world number three Dominic Thiem 6-1 3-6 7-6 (7-2) in his opening match of the Rio Open.

The highest-ranked Brazilian in the field made a winning start at South America's only ATP 500 event, but he had to work for it, emerging victorious after an 88-minute third set.

A raucous crowd cheered on every point down the stretch, and after saving four break point opportunities to force a tiebreaker, he jumped ahead to a 5-1 advantage and served it out.

He will face the winner between second seed Cameron Norrie and rising Argentine talent Juan Manuel Cerundolo in the next round.

Meanwhile, the top seed in action on Monday – third seed Lorenzo Musetti – continued his recent rough stretch of form with a disappointing 6-4 6-1 defeat at the hands of Chile's Nicolas Jarry.

Musetti, already ranked 18th in the world at 20 years old, has now lost four of his past five matches, while Jarry has won eight out of 10.

Jarry will play Spain's Pedro Martinez in the second round after he spoiled a potential all-Chilean matchup, eliminating Cristian Garin 7-6 (7-0) 6-4.

The only other Brazilian in action, Joao Fonseca, had no luck against Slovakia's Alex Molcan as he went down 6-0 6-3, while Bolivia's Hugo Dellien was similarly dominant in his 6-0 6-2 trouncing of Portugal's Joao Sousa.

After taking a set off world number two Carlos Alcaraz at last week's Argentina Open, Laslo Djere advanced into the second round as Facundo Bagnis retired in the second set while trailing 6-2 3-2.

Andy Murray saved three match points before seal a thrilling comeback victory over Lorenzo Sonego at the Qatar Open.

Making his first competitive appearance since his run to the third round of the Australian Open, Murray rallied after losing the first set to clinch a 4-6 6-1 7-6 (7-4) win in Monday's first-round contest.

The three-time grand slam winner – given a wildcard for the event in Doha – was the master of his own downfall in the opener as a double-fault handed Sonego the decisive break.

Having failed to force a single break point in the first set, Murray dominated the second but was facing an early exit when Sonego forced three match points in the decider, only for the momentum to swing again as the former world number one took it to a tie-break.

Sonego raced into a 3-0 lead, but Murray again came roaring back, squandering one match point when he flicked a backhand into the net but making no mistake second time around.

Murray will face fourth seed Alexander Zverev in the second round, as he bids to reach his first tour-level quarter-final of the season.

Alejandro Davidovich Fokina saw off Constant Lestienne 6-4 6-3, while Murray's fellow Brit Liam Broady saw off qualifier Oleksii Krutykh 6-0 4-6 7-6 (7-2).

Australian duo Jason Kubler and Christopher O'Connell also progressed in Doha.

Stan Wawrinka moved into the last 16 of the Open 13 with a 6-4 6-7 (6-8) 6-4 victory over Zizou Bergs.

Benjamin Bonzi and Alexander Bublik were the other first-round winners, ousting Luca Van Assche and Filip Krajinovic respectively in Marseille.

Novak Djokovic claimed a share of yet more history on Monday as he started his 377th week as world number one.

Djokovic has won 22 major titles, the joint-most among men, and has long since held the record for the most weeks at the top of the ATP rankings.

His nearest rival on the men's tour – since the rankings were introduced in 1973 – is the now retired Roger Federer, who spent 310 weeks in top spot.

But Djokovic has also matched Steffi Graf, the WTA leader, in making it to 377 weeks.

Graf was the women's number one 45 weeks longer than second-placed Martina Navratilova (332), with Serena Williams in third (319).

The WTA rankings began in 1975.

Taylor Fritz showed why he is ranked top-10 in the world and rising after beating Miomir Kecmanovic 6-0 5-7 6-2 in Sunday's final of the Delray Beach Open.

Fritz, 25, came into the tournament sitting at a career-best rank of seventh, and he did not lose his first set in Delray Beach until the final.

The top seed, Fritz was nearly perfect in the opening set, hitting 15 winners with only one unforced error and taking 72 per cent (28-of-39) of the total points. Kecmanovic did not hit a single winner in the set.

The 23-year-old Serbian showed far more fight in the second, and after saving all three of Fritz's break-point opportunities – including one match point – Kecmanovic capitalised on his one and only break-point chance of the match to force a third set.

But the mistakes crept back into the underdog's game, shooting himself in the foot with a pair of double faults and more unforced errors than winners.

Fritz took full advantage, securing two breaks down the stretch to run away with the victory and his first title of 2023.

After winning just one of his first six finals on the ATP Tour, Fritz has now won the past four finals he has reached.

In his first tournament since a four-month injury layoff Carlos Alcaraz went all the way and defeated Cameron Norrie 6-3 7-5 in the Argentina Open final.

Alcaraz, 19, became the youngest player to ever reach the world number one ranking in September, and with his victory in Buenos Aires he now has seven ATP Tour singles titles to his name.

After knocking off some rust in a close three-set opening match against Laslo Djere, Alcaraz advanced to the final following straight sets victories over Dusan Lajovic and Spanish compatriot Bernabe Zapata Miralles.

Against Norrie, Alcaraz played an exceptionally tight first set, winning 73 per cent (16-of-22) of his service points while not allowing his opponent a single break point opportunity.

He broke twice in the opening set and secured another quick break to begin the second, jumping ahead 3-0 as he threatened to run away with the match.

Norrie did not lay down, recovering from 5-2 down to tie things up at 5-5, but Alcaraz would not allow it to reach a tie-breaker as he finished the match with another break of serve.

The 250 ranking points on offer to the winner pulls Alcaraz to within striking distance of Novak Djokovic as he looks to reclaim his spot as world number one.