“Congratulations to a very deserving Daniil Medvedev!” Novak Djokovic congratulates new World No.1 Medvedev on taking top spot
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Novak Djokovic and Daniil Medvedev
After spending a staggering 361 weeks as the World No.1, Novak Djokovic‘s reign at the top of the standings ended with a shock defeat to Jiri Vesely in the quarter-finals of the Dubai Tennis Championships.
Daniil Medvedev is guaranteed to be the new World No.1 on Monday and will be the first Russian to sit at the top of the standings since Marat Safin in 2000. He also ended the reign of the Big 4 who occupied the top spot since 2004.
Djokovic was gracious in defeat despite knowing that his loss in Dubai will also end his reign at the top of the standings. During a pre-tournament press conference in Dubai, Djokovic said he would be the first person to congratulate Medvedev if becomes the World No.1. He was true to his words and congratulated Medvedev who is now all but guaranteed to become the World No.1 in the updated rankings released on Monday.
Novak Djokovic knocked out of Dubai Tennis Championships
Djokovic was playing in his first tournament of the year at the Dubai Tennis championships. The Serb missed the entire Australian hardcourt season after he failed to meet the vaccine compliances required to enter the country. After going through such an ordeal off-court, Djokovic returned to some on-court action in Dubai.
The 20-time Grand Slam champion knew that even a title win in Dubai would not guarantee him the No.1 ranking, but with his quarter-final exit, the Serbian will cede his No.1 ranking to Medvedev. Djokovic won his opening-round matches in straight sets but was completely outplayed by Jiri Vesely in the quarter-finals. He lost the match 6-4, 7-6 to the 123rd ranked Czech player.
Vesely had only won one main draw match in ATP tournaments this year, prior to his run in Dubai. After coming all the way from the qualifiers, Vesely has been rock-solid in all his three main draw matches. The Czech put on a dominant display to win against Djokovic for the second time in as many attempts.
Djokovic is next scheduled to play at the Indian Wells which begins on March 8th. But his participation at the first Masters 1000 tournament this year is still uncertain and Djokovic himself admitted that he can’t enter the United States at the moment.
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T Rushitha
(360 Articles Published)