Daniil Medvedev believes Novak Djokovic’s next target should be staying as World Number One for a combined total for 400 weeks.
Currently the Serbian is in his 311th week as world number one, which saw him become the all-time leader in combined weeks at the top of the rankings surpassing Roger Federer.
As tennis celebrates this monumental achievement by the Serb, the last player to have played Djokovic Daniil Medvedev has had his say on the landmark.
The Russian, who lost in straight sets in the Australian Open final to Djokovic, congratulated Djokovic on the achievement but said he shouldn’t stop at 311, “First of all, it’s an unbelievable achievement,” Medvedev said to the press in Marseille.
“I think in the world of tennis we talk about Grand Slams more than anything else. But this is also a small competition, I’m sure he’s really happy about it. The way he’s played, he’s definitely capable of catching 400 weeks.
“We’re going to try to not let him do this. I didn’t manage to do anything in the Australian Open final, but that is what sport is about. Nobody is going to give him an easy pass, he’s going to have to earn it.”
It certainly is going to be a challenge to stop Djokovic as he chases history with a big priority being the grand slams again in 2021 as well as chasing a first Olympic gold medal in Tokyo in the summer.
As for Medvedev, he is looking the most likely to become the next grand slam champion outside the big three having already faced Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic in his two grand slam finals as well as winning the Nitto ATP Finals.
However Medvedev thinks the big three should be celebrated while they are still competing, “As I’ve always said about the Big Three, they are unbelievable. The records they have set probably not going to be beaten maybe in 100 years.”
“It’s very rare that you see this in sports. I don’t think you can say that other players were not good enough in this era, it’s just that they were unbelievable and there’s nothing for others to be ashamed of.”
Daniil Medvedev is currently in the semi-finals of the Open 13 Provence in Marseille where he will face Matt Ebden on Saturday afternoon.
