via Getty
Daniil Medvedev of Russia and Rafael Nadal of Spain stand together before their Men’s Singles final match on day fourteen of the 2019 US Open at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on September 08, 2019 in the Queens borough of New York City. (Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)
via Getty
Daniil Medvedev of Russia and Rafael Nadal of Spain stand together before their Men’s Singles final match on day fourteen of the 2019 US Open at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on September 08, 2019 in the Queens borough of New York City. (Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)
Daniil Medvedev and his pursuit for the World No.2 ranking has been documented a lot. His strong past six months have put him very much closer to the top two rankings held by Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic. And now he will finally jump past Rafa Nadal to become the new World No.2.
When the rankings are updated on 15th March, Medvedev will finally become World No.2. The new ranking method deployed by ATP sees Nadal dropping some points. ATP’s new guidelines see players losing half of their points earned between 4th March and 9th August.
via Reuters
Daniil Medvedev reacts during his semi final match against Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas. REUTERS/Asanka Brendon Ratnayake
So Nadal will drop half of the 360 points and Medvedev will drop half of 45 points earned at Indian Wells 2019 on 15th March. Currently, Nadal is on 9850 points and Medvedev is at 9735 points thus difference between them is 135 points, thus Medvedev will just edge past Nadal and become World No.2.
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Who was the last player other than Federer, Nadal, Djokovic, and Murray to be in the top two of ATP rankings?
This move is historic. Medvedev will become the first player to be ranked in the top two of the ATP rankings other than the big four of Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, and Roger Federer in over 15 years. The last person to be ranked in the top two was Lleyton Hewitt on 25th July 2005. So this is a great run.
With the release of next week's @ATPTour draws, @DaniilMedwed is confirmed to become World No. 2 in @FedEx ATP Rankings on 15 March.
Medvedev will be the 1st player in the Top 2 since 25 July 2005 other than the Big 4 of @DjokerNole, @RafaelNadal, @RogerFederer and @Andy_Murray.
— ATP Media Info (@ATPMediaInfo) March 6, 2021
Daniil Medvedev: Strong run and history for Russia
For Russia, this means that he will be their eighth player to be in the top two of the rankings. Furthermore, among male players, only two Russians have been ranked World No.1. And Medvedev could be the third, but that will take time.
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Right now, Djokovic holds an unprecedented lead over everybody. He has 12030 points and is over 2000 points above Nadal, Medvedev, and the rest of the chasing pack.
via Reuters
Daniil Medvedev speaks to the crowd holding the runners up trophy after losing his final match against Serbia’s Novak Djokovic. REUTERS/Asanka Brendon Ratnayake
Anyway, Medvedev’s rise can be attributed to a marvelous run that started from Rolex Paris Masters 2020. From there he won that tournament followed by ATP Finals 2020. Then the ATP Cup 2021 triumph followed, and the Australian Open 2021 final. This earned him over 3000 points in just 5 months.
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Is Daniil Medvedev Novak Djokovic’s World No.1 rival?
Read More:“No Particular Reason”: Daniil Medvedev Calls Stefanos Tsitsipas His Greatest Rival
