Daniil Medvedev withdraws from Rotterdam Open; Dubai Open to be deciding factor in tussle for number one spot between Russian and Novak Djokovic


Daniil Medvedev withdraws from Rotterdam Open; Dubai Open to be deciding factor in tussle for number one spot between Russian and Novak Djokovic

Daniil Medvedev

Daniil Medvedev lost an opportunity to climb to the number one spot in the world rankings at the Australian Open 2022. After his defeat in the finals on Sunday against Rafael Nadal, Medvedev has now announced that he has withdrawn from the ATP Rotterdam Open.

ADVERTISEMENT

ATP Rotterdam Open will be held next week, and his withdrawal was pretty much expected after he played out an epic five set final against Rafael Nadal. The Russian could have climbed to the top spot in world rankings, if he would have won the Australian Open final, as Novak Djokovic was all set to drop 2,000 points.

“Unfortunately I will not play in Rotterdam this year. I just got back from Australia and am not ready to compete. Rotterdam is one of the favourite stops on the Tour and Richard does a great job for the players there. I look forward to coming back in the future,said Medvedev.

Battle for number one spot moves to Dubai

Daniil Medvedev
Daniil Medvedev

The battle for the world number one in ATP Rankings will be carried forward to Dubai Open which will be held later this month. With a decent performance in Rotterdam, the Russian could have become the new world number one.

ADVERTISEMENT

Novak Djokovic has also confirmed his participation at Dubai Open, and will be seeded first. The Serbian will play his first professional level match of the 2022 season, after he was deported back to Serbia due to Australian visa issues. Hence, Dubai Open 500 will decide as to who goes in to March as the world number one.

Daniil Medvedev will still be recovering from his final defeat against Rafael Nadal. All looked secured at the moment, when the Russian had a two set lead and was up 0-40 on Nadal’s serve in the third set. However, the Spaniard produced a comeback from the top draw which stopped Medvedev from winning his second consecutive major title.

Also Read: ‘A dirty trophy, no real value!’ Serbian media turns SALTY after Rafael Nadal surpasses Novak Djokovic in GOAT race with 2nd Australian Open title