Novak Djokovic fell in Dubai and gave up the number 1 in the ATP ranking to Daniil Medvedev

After spending more than three years uninterruptedly at the top of the ATP rankings, Novak Djokovic ceased to be number one in the world. He condemned him defeating him in the Dubai ATP 500at the hands of the Czech Jiri Vesely by 6-4 and 7-6 (4)because to maintain his position he had to keep the title and that Daniil Medvedev did not win the Acapulco tournament. But everything was precipitated from this defeat of the Serbian, premature for the forecasts, added to the influence that his lack of activity had in the first months of the year as a result of his refusal to be vaccinated against the coronavirus.

The Serbian was playing his first tournament of the year after the scandal he was involved in by not allowing him to compete in the Australian Open in January, for not being vaccinated against Covid and had shown good signs in his matches against Musetti and Khachanov, but he could not maintain his form to beat the world number 121, who beat him for the second time in his career and will cut him his record streak of 361 weeks as the best in the world.

In this way, from Monday the Muscovite will be placed on top, becoming the 27th tennis player to do so and the first number one not to be part of the Big Four (Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic y Andy Murray) since 2004when the Swiss ousted Andy Roddick. Furthermore, Medvedev is also the third Russian tennis player in history to reach the position, after Yevgeny Kafelnikov in 1999 and Marat Safin the following year.

For his part, Medvedev is still in the race at the ATP 500 in Acapulco, in which he will have to face the Japanese this Thursday from 8:00 p.m. (Argentina time). Yoshihito Nishioka for the quarterfinals of the tournament. Notably, the defending champion, Alexander Zverev was ejected for hitting the umpire’s chair during their doubles match, playing alongside Brazilian Marcelo Melo.

The news also confirms the great present that the Russian has experienced in recent years. It was he who last year prevented Djokovic from winning the first annual Grand Slam in more than 50 years, snatching the US Open, and continued his good feelings reaching the final of the Australian Open, although on that occasion he could not beat Nadal. In addition to that US Open, Medvedev also won another 12 titlesincluding the ATP Finals in 2020 and the ATP Cup and Davis Cup in 2021.

Meanwhile, Djokovic’s future on tour remains uncertain. At this time he is registered to play the Masters 1000 de Indian Wells, but your entry into the United States is not guaranteed. Nor is his presence confirmed in the Grand Slams from Roland Garros and Wimbledonof which the Serbian is the defending champion, for which he could continue to lose points that would leave him lower in the top 10 of the ranking.