After Novak Djokovic's astonishing defeat in the Dubai Open, Daniil Medvedev has ascended up the ATP Rankings ladder to fill his shoes. He is the first player other than Djokovic, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, or Andy Murray to reach No. 1 since Andy Roddick in 2004. Therefore, Medvedev's ascension is especially noteworthy. The rankings will be officially released on Monday.
Read more: Australian Open 2022: Daniil Medvedev draws inspiration from Novak Djokovic
Medvedev's reaction after achieving such a feat
After realising he'd be taking over the top slot in ATP Rankings, the 26-year-old Russian experienced a rollercoaster of emotions. He said, "It's not easy actually to play a match when you get this (news) during the day. To be honest, I saw that he was losing, but I didn't know that if he loses I'm going to become number one."
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"I thought that I had to do something big here. So then when I was receiving all the messages, well, I understood, OK, it's gonna happen. The first goal for me was to still win today because I'm here to try to win every match I play. But it's definitely some great news," he added shortly.
With this achievement, he joins Yevgeny Kafelnikov and Marat Safin as the third Russian man to reach the top spot. He's also on his way to thrash a record by being the tallest player to ever be ranked No. 1 in the world. At 6'6", he is indeed the tallest person in the room. However, as for now, he will face a semi-final showdown with Rafael Nadal in a rematch of the Australian Open final.