“Novak Djokovic never speaks ill of any opponent” Daniil Medvedev pays a heartfelt tribute to the Serbian as he replaces him as World No. 1
Follow Us
Daniil Medvedev and Novak Djokovic
Daniil Medvedev has officially replaced Novak Djokovic as the World No. 1 and has become the 27th man to achieve this feat on the ATP Tour. Medvedev’s run to the semi-finals of the 2022 Acapulco Open and Djokovic’s defeat in the quarter-finals of the 2022 Dubai Tennis Championships paved the way for the Russian to climb the top of the ATP rankings.
With a big time difference of 10 hours between Dubai and Mexico, Djokovic’s defeat meant that Medvedev was confirmed to become the top-ranked player even before playing his quarter-final match in the Acapulco Open. While the scenario was known t everyone, Djokovic did not hesitate in congratulating Daniil for achieving the feat.
Medvedev went on to reach the semi-finals but was defeated by Rafael Nadal yet again within a space of a month with Nadal going on to win the title. After his defeat to Nadal, Medvedev talked about replacing his good friend Djokovic at the top and the Russian had nothing but respect for his Serbian counterpart and reminded everyone once again of how good a human Djokovic is.
“Novak is telling the truth. Every time I’ve achieved something, and not just me, you can see that for a lot of players Novak is always congratulating everyone. To be honest, we all know sometimes – I know this better than anyone – that we’re all competitive. So sometimes during the match, there can be something with the fans, with the opponent, with the referee, with anything, with the balls, I don’t know, anything.
“And he can sometimes get very angry at times. Maybe when he was very young, I don’t know. But I don’t think, at least when I arrived on the circuit, I invite you to find a single match, where after any match with Novak speaking ill of his opponent, and not congratulating him. That’s how he is,” said Medvedev during his press conference after his defeat to Nadal.
Novak Djokovic can replace Daniil Medvedev in 3 weeks’ time
Medvedev sits at the top of the ATP rankings with 8615 points while Djokovic is placed 2nd with 8465 points, a difference of just 150 points. With Medvedev winning the Open 13 in Marseille in 2021 and choosing not to defend the title this year, he will drop the 250 points he won last year on 14th March when the 2022 Indian Wells Masters will be going on.
As per ATP rules, rankings can’t be updated during a Masters tournament is being held which means the next update will be done on 21st March 2022. As per the current regulations, Novak is not allowed to enter the USA and hence will not be a part of the tournament and Daniil will need to reach at least the quarter-finals of the Masters event in the Californian desert to retain his No. 1 spot or he will be replaced by Djokovic having been at the top only for 3 weeks.
Stay Updated!
Sarthak Shitole
(3462 Articles Published)