“He is deservedly World No. 1,” Daniil Medvedev debunks claims that Novak Djokovic’s absence helped Carlos Alcarz claim the top spot in ATP rankings
Daniil Medvedev wishes to regain World No.1 rank and stay there for the rest of the season.
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Carlos Alcaraz, Daniil Medvedev and Novak Djokovic (Image via: Open Source)
Despite losing to Carlos Alcaraz for the first time in his career, that, too, in the final of the Indian Wells Open, Daniil Medvedev is happy for him as he climbs on the top spot in the ATP singles ranking again. The youngest player in the ATP history to become World No.1 made the most of Novak Djokovic‘s forced absence from this ATP Masters tournament.
This is the first loss for Daniil Medvedev this season, in the final of an ATP tournament after the disappointment of the Australian Open 2023. In the post-match interaction with journalists after the final, when the Russian was asked if Carlos Alcaraz benefitted from Novak Djokovic’s absence in this tournament and if the ATP singles rankings reflects the true picture of the performance of the players, he refuted such arguments.
“Oh, yeah, 100% because it’s for sure unfortunate Novak cannot play all the tournaments, and I’m sure everyone would love to see him play, because it’s just good to see Novak play. He plays very good. But it is what it is, you know. If you get injured, I don’t know, Rafa is injured for some time. We also can say, well, if Rafa would not be injured he would be No. 1. Well, we cannot know because he’s injured. Same about Novak. For sure if he would be able to play last year and this year all the tournaments, there is a possibility that the rankings would be different,” he said.
“But… But, there shouldn’t be no “buts.” Carlos is deservedly World No. 1. He won more points than everybody else in last 52 weeks, and that’s how rankings work. Yeah, he was also year-end No. 1 last year, so that’s something I haven’t done, so I’ll try, for sure, in my career. Yeah,” he continued.
Daniil Medvedev too gained for his performance in this tournament. He earned 555 ranking points and jumped one place above and is currently ranked No.5 in the world. Carlos Alcaraz on the other hand earned 640 points which helped him to propel to the top of the leaderboard. Meanwhile, Novak Djokovic is going to miss Miami Open yet again for his stand against Covid-19 vaccination and double vaccination mandate in the USA.
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Carlos Alcaraz’s dominant run continues
The young Spaniard again showed his class as he marched on to his career’s maiden Indian Wells Open men’s singles title. He beat Daniil Medvedev 6-3, 6-2. However, his career is on an ascendant since winning the US Open 2022 men’s singles title.
Although, Carlos Alcaraz got injured and had to miss out the opportunity to play in the ATP Finals 2022 and the Australian Open 2023, he prepared himself mentally and physically to always stay on the top of the game. He returned this season in the Argentina Open and won it. He also reached the final of the Rio Open but unfortunately lost to Cameron Norrie.
Hence, expectations were high from him as he entered the Indian Wells Open and he did not disappoint his fans a bit. As the ATP Tour advances to Miami, Florida, USA, Carlos Alcaraz would like to add another title to his name. He is also the defending champion here.
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Abhar Indorkar
(451 Articles Published)