Daniil Medvedev’s early loss in Montreal proves costly, gives Rafael Nadal the chance to become World No. 1 for the 2022 US Open
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Daniil Medvedev and Rafael Nadal
World No. 1 Daniil Medvedev‘s title defence at the 2022 Canadian Masters in Montreal was not fruitful as he lost in the second round to World No. 37 and the in-form Australian Nick Kyrgios. Kyrgios won the match 6-7(7), 6-4, 6-2 in just under the 2-hour mark to advance into the third round and extend his winning streak to 8 matches in the singles discipline.
Both Nick and Medvedev were coming fresh from a Tour title in the last week with the Russian winning the ATP-250 title in Los Cabos while Nick won the ATP-500 in Washington, his first since 2019. With World No. 2 Alexander Zverev injured, Medvedev was piling on ranking points to stretch his lead at the top but the defeat to Nick has proved too costly for him as the injured German is now just 125 points away from the World No. 1 rank.
Daniil Medvedev will need a big result in Cincinnati Masters to hold onto his ranking
Amidst all this, the biggest opportunist is the current World No. 3 Rafael Nadal. The Spaniard has been fantastic this season with 2 Grand Slam titles and two Tour titles that have seen him lead the Race for ATP Finals while also tied with compatriot Carlos Alcaraz for most Titles this season with 4 apiece. With the early loss in Canada, the difference between Daniil and Rafa is 1265 points well within reach for the Spaniard to reclaim the World No. 1 spot.
With Rafa confirming his appearance in the next week’s Cincinnati Masters, Medvedev will have a hanging sword on him as he was a semi-finalist last year and again has a good number of points to defend. With Nadal having no points to defend for the remainder of the season, he stands a golden chance to be the top-ranked player before the 2022 US Open for which he would need to win the title in Cincinnati and hope that Daniil loses before the quarter-finals.
In this scenario, Nadal will begin his 210th week as World No. 1 and be the top seed in US Open. While the situation is tricky, it is certainly possible given the inconsistency Medvedev has shown since becoming the World No. 1 earlier this year and then losing the ranking again to Novak Djokovic before reclaiming it after the 2022 Wimbledon offered no points.
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Sarthak Shitole
(3462 Articles Published)