Daniil Medvedev news: Russian guaranteed at least three weeks at No 1

ATP Tour

James Richardson
February 26, 2022

Daniil Medvedev is guaranteed to stay at No 1 for at least three weeks despite his loss to Rafael Nadal in the semifinals in Acapulco on Friday.

Novak Djokovic’s quarterfinal exit in Dubai meant that Medvedev was guaranteed top spot before he stepped out on court for his own quarterfinal at the Mexican Open.

With the top two’s weeks over we now know the state of play going forward.

Medvedev will sport a 150-point lead on Djokovic heading into Indian Wells. As the Serbian is unable to play in the tournament and there are no alternative events, Medvedev can ensure a longer reign as No 1 by reaching the last eight.

The Russian will relinquish the points from his Marseille title in 2021 on 21 March, and could then drop the ranking straight back to Djokovic if he hasn’t made the quarterfinals at the BNP Paribas Open.

Medvedev missed a chance to open up a bigger gap when he lost in the semifinals to Rafael Nadal, had he made the final and lost, it would have been 270 points while he could have bagged a 470 point lead with the title.

The soon to be world no 1 was disappointed with his error rate in a straight sets but hard-fought loss to Nadal.

“If you want to beat Nadal, you have to play at your best level and I didn’t,” Medvedev said. “I made too many mistakes and I failed to convert 11 break points. I was missing some energy today.”

Medvedev may be set to become the World No 1 but he is yet to defeat Nadal in direct competition, losing all 14 of their singles matches to date.

With Djokovic also looking set to miss the Miami event, the ranking might be changing hands multiple times over the next few weeks.

Medvedev has the distinct advantage of having his fate in his own hands though with Djokovic possibly set to miss more tournaments due to entry requirements of both tournaments and the nations they are held in.

The Serbian was hopeful that he might find a way to enter the upcoming events in the United States.

“As of today, (no). I can’t go – can’t enter United States,” Djokovic said in Dubai. “As of today I’m not able to play. But let’s see what happens. I mean, maybe things change in the next few weeks.”

Daniil Medvedev