ATP Rankings: Daniil Medvedev climbs to top, dethrones Novak Djokovic
Russia's Daniil Medvedev climbed to the top of the ATP Rankings on Monday. He has ended the long-standing reign of Serbian maestro Novak Djokovic. The latter held the top spot for 361 weeks, having broken Roger Federer's record of 310 weeks. Medvedev attained his career-best ranking after reaching the Acapulco semi-finals. Meanwhile, Djokovic recently lost the quarter-finals of the Dubai Open.
Why does this story matter?
Djokovic first held the number one ranking in July 2011. He is one of three players to spend over 10 years as top-ranked player, others being Federer and Rafael Nadal. Djokovic has also been at the top for 122 consecutive weeks. Medvedev has overtaken Djokovic after the latter missed the Australian Open. The Russian finished as the runner-up in Melbourne.
A look at Medvedev's career stats
Medvedev has a career win-loss record of 234-102. He has won a total of 13 singles titles. The Russian is 51-19 in Grand Slams (win percentage of 73). He won his maiden and only major in 2021 at the US Open. Medvedev has also reached the final of the Australian Open twice (2021 and 2022). He lost the 2022 Australian Open final to Nadal.
Medvedev is 194-67 on hard courts
Medvedev is 194-67 on hard courts. As many as 12 of his total 13 singles titles have come on this surface (2018: Tokyo, Winston-Salem, Sydney. 2019: Shanghai Masters, St Petersburg, Cincinnati Masters, Sofia. 2020: ATP Finals, Paris Masters. 2021: US Open, Canada Masters, Marseille).
27th player to top the ATP Rankings
As per ATP, Medvedev is the 27th player to top the ATP Rankings. He has (8,615 points) surpassed Djokovic, who now has 8,465 points. Medvedev is the first player outside the Big Four - Djokovic, Federer, Nadal, and Andy Murray - to lead the ATP Rankings in 18 years. Andy Roddick was the last player (outside the Big Four) to do so in 2004.
Third Russian to become the world number one
Medvedev is the third Russian to become the world number one (ATP Rankings) after Yevgeny Kafelnikov and Marat Safin. Kafelnikov spent six weeks at the top, while Safin held the top spot for nine weeks.
Other major stats of Medvedev
Medvedev was the most successful player in 2021 (ATP match-wins). He was 63-13 besides winning four titles. Medvedev became the third Russian after Kafelnikov and Safin to win a Grand Slam (US Open). He also captured his fourth ATP Masters 1000 crown in Toronto. He became one of the two active players outside the Big Four with four Masters 1000 titles.
