ROGER FEDERER set a new record for men’s tennis dominance Monday, when he celebrated his 161st consecutive week as world No. 1.

The Swiss eclipsed Jimmy Connors’ 30-year-old milestone after extending a streak that began Feb. 2, 2004.

“I’ve been looking forward to this day to come and I’m very excited. That is definitely one of the biggest records I’ve broken so far in my career,” Federer told reporters before beating Kristian Pless 7-6 3-6 6-3 in the first round of the Dubai Open.

Connors set his record from July 1974 to August 1977. The ATP rankings began Aug. 23, 1973.

“It is a nice record to have,” said Federer, who also held a career high 36-match winning streak heading into Monday’s match against Kristian Pless.

He has also won six of the last seven Grand Slam titles, but hasn’t played since beating Fernando Gonzalez in the Australian Open final Jan. 28. The only Grand Slam Federer has not won is the French Open.

Federer has 8,120 points in the yearly rankings, leading No. 2 Rafael Nadal by 3,415 points.

Since taking over the No. 1 spot, Federer is 247-15 with 34 titles in 49 tournaments. And he’s never really come close to relinquishing the top ranking during that run.

“Except maybe when I played (Andy) Roddick in the 2004 Wimbledon final,” Federer said Sunday. “If he had won there, he would have had the momentum, and he would have gotten close in the rankings. But I didn’t lose.”

Not only didn’t he lose that match, Federer has also become an even better player.

“My baseline game was OK, but not as consistent as I was hoping for. That’s what I’ve been able to improve,” Federer said.

Federer is fifth on the list of most overall weeks at No. 1. Pete Sampras leads with 286 weeks, followed by Ivan Lendl with 270, Connors with 268 and John McEnroe with 170.

Connors won eight Grand Slam titles in his career, which lasted more than 20 years. Although he also only failed to win the French Open, Connors did win the 1976 U.S. Open on clay.

Connors won 109 titles in his career. Federer has won 47 so far.

At last year’s Dubai Open, Federer lost to Nadal in the final.

(SD-Agencies)