Considering the fuss made of Andy Murray for making it to No1 in tennis for the first time, it must surely be worth doffing the cap in the direction of Mark Selby.
That is not to denigrate Murray in any way. He deserves great credit for always pushing himself, and never accepting a place in the top 10 and a comfortable life, an accusation you might level at players such as Tomas Berdych.
Murray suffered so many humbling grand slam final losses to the likes of Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer that overhauling them will have been a very sweet moment.
But what of Selby in snooker? At the time of writing in York the reigning world champion has been at the summit in snooker for 94 weeks in a row, and that seems almost certain to be extended to at least February, past the 100-week mark, and the two-year milepost.
While Selby will not come top of any list for consecutive years at No1, there are obvious reasons for that. Stephen Hendry was head boy for eight years in a row, Steve Davis for seven, and Ray Reardon for six.
But crucially those achievements came under the old system where a ranking was held for the whole season. Your ranking stayed where you finished in May for the entire following campaign.
This casts the 33-year-old Selby’s achievement in a completely different and better light. Under the post-2010 rolling, fluid system with rankings regularly updated and fierce competition at the top, his current run is little short of extraordinary.
And he hasn’t been just a flat-track bully in the smaller, less high profile and lower pressure tournaments. He has of course won the world championship twice since 2014
Since the ranking system went ‘rolling’ Selby has been top for as of today for a total of 1,400 days and counting, the last 659 in a row. That total is considerably more than all the others (Ding Junhui, Judd Trump, Mark Williams, Neil Robertson and John Higgins) put together.
Selby by his own admission struggled the first time he got to No1, feeling under pressure to prove why he was there every time he was announced as such and came to the table. But he has learned to carry the mantle with far greater ease this time around.
He remains, in that time-honoured sporting phrase, very, very hard to beat; he is gradually upping a tally of ranking titles that until recently looked below-par; and is always a huge obstacle in the path of any player with designs on a major title.
And not that it quite carries its former significance, but Selby has now finished the season as world No1 for the last five years.
Selby’s lead is so large, around £330,000 at the time of writing, that even if he did not earn another pound until the German Masters, that he won two years ago, it is virtually impossible that he can be deposed by then, especially with the invitational Mastersat Alexandra Palace first prize of £200,000 not counting.
As Selby moved into the quarter-finals at the Betway UK Championship, teeing up a clash with either John Higgins or Mark Allen, the No1 tag feels a lot more like a badge of honour than a burden these days, even if his fiercely determined style is not top of every fan’s TV wishlist. Let’s face it, who is these days?
But more importantly, Selby’s consistent excellence and level of performance should be recognised.