Daniil Medvedev named third-best player right now ahead of Novak Djokovic and Alexander Zverev
Daniil Medvedev might be a lowly ninth in the rankings, but several tennis commentators believe he is currently the third-best player in men’s tennis behind Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner.
After a sluggish 2025 season during which he won only one title, the ATP 250 Almaty Open in October, Medvedev has already won two trophies this year and also finished runner-up at the Indian Wells Open.
The former world No 1 lifted the ATP 250 Brisbane International trophy in January and followed it up with the ATP 500 Dubai Tennis Championships the following month.
But it was his run in Indian Wells that has put him back in the top 10 as he stunned world No 1 Alcaraz in the semi-final of the ATP Masters 1000 event, as he ended the seven-time Grand Slam winner’s unbeaten run to the year with an impressive 6-3, 7-6 (7-3) win.
He faced world No 2 Sinner in the final and he gave as good as he got, going down 7-6 (8-6), 7-6 (7-4), but his push was good enough to help him to return to No 9 in the rankings and some believe he is now Alcaraz and Sinner’s biggest rivals.
On the Nothing Major podcast, former world No 11 rated him as the No 3, stating: “Is Medvedev the third-best player in the world right now? I think he is. I know it’s recency bias, but on the Querrey big board he’s the number three player in the world right now.”
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However, fellow American Steve Johnson didn’t share his views as he believes the Russian is most likely behind tennis great and current No 3 Novak Djokovic and world No 4 Alexander Zverev.
“I get why, but I have to put Novak at three,” Johnson said. “His body of work at his age against these young guys, making every semi and final of a Slam.
“I still think it’s a toss-up between Sascha and Meddy, so I would give Meddy no worse than five.”
Former world No 7 and 2022 Australian Open runner-up Danielle Collins has also backed Medvedev as a top-three player.
Speaking on the Tennis Channel, the American said: “This is the Medvedev that the tennis fans, like me, want to see. He is playing some of his most aggressive tennis, he’s getting his shots dialled in, he’s getting better each day.
“I think, mentally, he is in a really good place right now. He’s looking incredibly confident out there. He’s just having a little bit more resilience, I think, in the bigger moments. He seems like he’s having a good time. This is what we want from Medvedev!
“And, I’m a big Medvedev fan, so I’m a little biased, but yeah, I think he’s in the top three.”
