Daniil Medvedev’s reign as world No.1 may be coming to an end very soon but he has vowed to do all that he can to reclaim the position in the coming weeks.
Medvedev will lose his place at the top of the world rankings next week after losing in the third round of the BNP Paribas Open to Gael Monfils. The defeat means that Novak Djokovic will overtake him even though the Serbian isn’t playing in America due to being unvaccinated. The men’s ranking system is calculated based on points earned and defended within a certain period of time.
Coming into this week, the Russian knew in order to secure his position as world No.1 he had to at least reach the quarter-finals in Indian Wells. Something which he had never been able to achieve at the tournament in his career. Although he states that the reason he lost to Monfils had nothing to do with the pressure he was under.
“Now I know I’m going to lose it, so I have Miami to try to get it back,” Medvedev said of the No.1 ranking. “Usually I’m feeling a little bit better in Miami in terms of tennis, so we’ll try to play good there.’
“I always say, when I play my best tennis, my good tennis, it’s really tough to beat me. But the toughest part of tennis is to reproduce it time after time. That’s where the big three are just unreal because no matter which conditions and no matter which surface, they are always winning tournaments a lot of the time or winning some crazy matches.”
Medvedev’s reign as world No.1 has lasted three weeks which is longer than Pat Rafter (one week) and Carlos Moya (two weeks). He also holds the record as the tallest world No.1 in ATP rankings history at 198cm.
“Is it better to be No. 1 for, let’s say one week in your life, or never touch it?” he said. “I think it’s still better to at least touch it.”
The 26-year-old can reclaim the top spot later this month at the Miami Masters but will have to reach the semi-finals in order to do so. Last year in Miami he reached the quarter-finals which was his best-ever run at the tournament.
“So I’m going to try my best, on practice courts, on the matches, Grand Slams, Masters Series, to win as many tournaments and gain as many points and try to be World No. 1 for a long time,” Medvedev said. “You never know how your career’s going to turn. I want to try to be better than I was here, maybe fighting better.
“If it doesn’t happen, I think it’s the same. But the Top 100, the Top 10, some people stay there for a long time, some people not. I think to have this achievement in your career is definitely still a good thing.”
Medvedev’s win-loss record for the 2022 season now stands at 13-4.
