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Novak Djokovic is the all-time leader for weeks as world number one. However, in terms of consecutive weeks, a man by the name of Roger Federer stands alone by quite some margin. Of course, being ranked as the world’s best player is quite a feat. And now, we have a new world number one in the form of Daniil Medvedev. Interestingly, this is the first time that the world number one isn’t named Federer, Nadal, Murray, or Djokovic since 2003.
That just goes to show how dominant those guys have been for the last couple of decades in men’s tennis. Medvedev has now broken the streak of such domination, however. His performances over the last year have helped him to sit comfortably as the number two player in the world. But since Djokovic didn’t compete in Australia, and with him taking an early exit in Dubai, Medvedev will now take the crown.
But how has he got there? Well, let’s take a look.
Medvedev’s Rise to the Top
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Daniil Medvedev really started to land on people’s radar back in 2019. He had an incredible hard court season, winning both Cincinnati and Shanghai – both Masters 1,000 events. Medvedev then went on to reach the final of the US Open, his first Grand Slam final. If you recall, he lost to Nadal in an epic five-set match. And for me, this is when everybody knew that Medvedev could be great.
But in terms of the number one ranking in the world, this is based on points for the previous 12 months. Here is how he has reached the top:
US Open Victory 2021
Of course, I had to mention this one as it has been significant for both the rankings and for Medvedev’s career as a whole. At the 2021 US Open, he managed to win his first slam against Novak Djokovic. This ended Djokovic’s dream of grabbing the calendar slam, and it officially put Medvedev in the exclusive group of slam winners. He also racked up a ton of points too!
Australian Open Final 2022
At the 2022 Australian Open, everybody figured that Medvedev was going to win after Djokovic was no longer competing. He made the final, and as fate would have it, he played Rafael Nadal. In a truly epic encounter, he lost in five sets, but maintained the points he received from making the final in the previous year. This helped him to keep his ranking as number two in the world, and he gained plenty of ground on Djokovic.
ATP Finals 2021
Another event that helped him majorly with points and rankings was the ATP Finals. Medvedev was again formidable during the event, making the finals. This helped him rack up plenty of points, and since this was a better result than both Djokovic and Nadal, he gained ground on the pair of them. He ultimately lost in the finals to Alex Zverev, but hey, I’m sure he would take that loss if he knew he would be number one just a few months after that!
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