Daniil Medvedev is the new king of the ATP. This Monday the assault on the throne by the Russian tennis player has become official, who has become the new number one in the world thus dethroning Novak Djokovic after two years of reign. The defeat of the Serb against the Czech Vesely in the quarterfinals of the ATP 500 in Dubai last week served the leadership of the ATP ranking on a plate to the Muscovite, who fell in the semifinals of Acapulco against Nadal, and surpasses him by just 150 points (8,615 for 8,465 of the former number one).
Nole had been at the top of the rankings for 361 weeks, 86 of them consecutively, but his loss at the Australian Open changed everything. The Belgrade tennis player lost many points by not participating in the first Grand Slam of the season, where he was defending the title. This fact made Medvedev dependent on himself to be number one after equaling his 2021 result in Australia.
Thus, Medvedev becomes the third Russian tennis player to reach number one in the world after Marat Safin and Yevgeny Kafelnikov . In addition, it ends the hegemony of the Big Four that has dominated the ATP ranking for the last 18 years. The last tennis player to be number one before the reign of the four giants began (Federer, Nadal, Djokovic and Murray) was Andy Roddick in 2004.
Precisely one of the four of the Big Four has starred in another of the promotions of the week. Rafa Nadal climbs another position and reaches number four in the world, thus surpassing Stefanos Tsitsipas, who overtook him in August. The Spaniard continues his unbeaten streak in 2022 after winning the Acapulco tournament, where he defeated the current number one in the semifinals.
Nadal is intractable, he has three titles in 2022 with a balance of 15 wins and zero losses, the best start to the season of his entire career. Now he is fourth in the ATP ranking with 6,515 points, 70 more than Tsitsipas (6,445), who drops to fifth place. In no man’s land, between Djokovic and Nadal is Zverev, third with 7,515 points.
Alcaraz enters the top-20
Also noteworthy is the rise of Carlos Alcaraz , who enters the top-20 after winning in Rio. The one from El Palmar continues to climb positions in the classification and is placed 19th in the world with 2,061 points. At 18 years old, the pupil of Juan Carlos Ferrero continues to make history and is ranked as the fourth best-placed Spaniard and the youngest tennis player in the top-20.
Ahead, in positions 15 and 16 are Roberto Bautista and Pablo Carreño , respectively. The one from Castellón adds 2,480 points to the 2,220 of the Asturian. Bautista fell in the round of 16 in Dubai against Vesely, while Carreño, who played the Mexican Open in Acapulco, lost in the same round against the American Marcos Giron.
