“It would really mean a lot” Daniil Medvedev looking forward to completing ‘Big Childhood Goal’ of becoming World No. 1
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Daniil Medvedev
Currently ranked 2nd in the world, Daniil Medvedev has a fantastic chance to become the 27th man on the ATP Tour to become the World No. 1 player. The Russian needs to win the title at the ongoing 2022 Acapulco Open where he is the top seed and has already made his way to the quarter-finals of the tournament without dropping a set.
Medvedev is chasing the current World No. 1 Novak Djokovic in the rankings and with the Serbian absent from the Tour in the entire January and the first 3 weeks of February, even if Djokovic wins the title at the ongoing 2022 Dubai Tennis Championships, it won’t be enough to keep him at the top if Medvedev is also able to win the title this week.
With multiple scenarios possible that do favour Medvedev in reaching the top of the ATP rankings, the Russian superstar talked about what it would mean to actually become the top-ranked player, with the 2021 US Open champion comparing it to the first time he became the World No. 2.
“We talk about it a lot, but I haven’t done it yet. Of course, this is a big goal and the truth is that would really mean a lot to me. When I reached second place in the leaderboard, it was already incredible with the dominance of the Big 4 , and now I intend to do it again. It’s something I dreamed of when I was young and it’s been a goal for a while now, but I only think about winning matches in these three events,” said Medvedev after the 6-1, 6-2 win over Pablo Andujar in the second round.
Daniil Medvedev could meet Rafael Nadal again this week
Entering the quarter-finals, Medvedev will be challenged by qualifier Yoshihito Nishioka who defeated Spanish veteran Feliciano Lopez and then beat American No. 1 Taylor Fritz to move into the last-8 of the tournament with both of his main-draw wins coming in 3-sets. Given the contrast in experience and ranking, Medvedev will be the favourite to proceed ahead.
In the semi-finals, Medvedev is likely to meet Rafael Nadal in what will be the repeat of the 2022 Australian Open finals where the Spaniard beat Medvedev in the second-longest Grand Slam final making a comeback after losing the first two sets to win Grand Slam number 21. Nadal is currently 12-0 this season having won 2 titles from 2 appearances coming into Mexico.
Provided Medvedev avenges his defeat and enters the finals, as per the seedings, he is likely to meet last year’s finalist Stefanos Tsitsipas who is now the favourite to enter the finals from the other part of the draw after defending champion and 2nd seed Alexander Zverev was removed from the tournament yesterday.
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