‘I honestly think it’s almost impossible,’ Daniil Medvedev on achieving the No.1 ranking this season
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Daniil Medvedev
Russian 25-year old Daniil Medvedev had a dream run in New York last fortnight as he stopped Novak Djokovic from scripting history and won his maiden grand slam. He beat Djokovic in the final of the 2021 US Open in straight sets 6-4,6-4,6-4 to lift the title in his third major final.
He was the most dominating player of the tournament and won it by dropping just one set, thus making him the first player in almost a decade to go all the way in New York by dropping just one set. He also became only the third Russian man, and the first in over two decades to win a major.
Medvedev now has won titles at every level- ATP 250, ATP 500, Masters, ATP Finals and Grand Slam. The only thing missing is becoming the World No.1. Medvedev achieved his career high ranking of No.2 earlier this year and has ever since held on to it. Post the US Open, Medvedev has 10780 points while Djokovic, who tops the charts has 12133 points.
Becoming the World No.1 isn’t Medvedev’s immediate goal
After his US Open triumph, Medvedev addressed the question regarding the No.1 ranking. He said that he has a lot of points to defend at Paris Masters and ATP Finals, and doesn’t have many scoring opportunities. “I have Paris and the Nitto ATP Finals to defend. Novak, I don’t think he has much to defend,” Medvedev said.
“I honestly think it’s almost impossible. If we are talking about the schedule, what can I change? There is Indian Wells, there is Paris Bercy, Turin, and Vienna. Vienna is in St. Petersburg week. I’m definitely not going to play there, because I probably won’t be playing in St-Petersburg either. The week in St. Petersburg, which is a Russian tournament, I’m not going to play anything else.“
Hopefully I win Indian Wells, Bercy and the Masters. It is a difficult challenge to overcome . I’m just happy to win a Grand Slam. I will do my best in all the tournaments I play. I’ll see what I can do with the schedule. It’s not my first goal in my mind to try to achieve it this year. If I succeed one day, it is formi-dable.”
Medvedev will now be seen in action at the Laver Cup which commences two weeks later on September 24.
Also read: WATCH: Novak Djokovic breaks down mid-match during the finals of the US Open 2021
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Lakshya Chopra
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