Daniil Medvedev admits desire to overtake Novak Djokovic as new World number one
Daniil Medvedev has the opportunity to be the new World number one and whilst he said he “doesn’t feel like the leader of anything,” he admits “all of us want to be the first one.”
US Open champion and World number two Medvedev could overtake Novak Djokovic as World number one for the first time in 361 weeks.
With Djokovic competing at the Dubai Tennis Championships and Medvedev featuring at the Mexican Open, if Medvedev matches or betters Djokovic’s result he will surpass the Serbian in the ATP rankings.
Should Medvedev achieve the feat, he would be the first player to do so outside of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray in 18 years. The last World number one that wasn’t one of the ‘Big Four’ was Andy Roddick in 2004.
Speaking ahead of the Mexican Open, Medvedev said “we can never know what we see in tennis, maybe it’s going to be in five years, maybe in two years, maybe in the next few weeks. But somebody is going to become the new World number one.
“So for like I think 16 years it was these [same] four guys (Djokovic, Federer, Nadal and Murray) being there. So at one moment it is going to be happening and of course, as you said, all of us want to be the first one to do it and to stay there as long as possible.
“I definitely don’t feel like the leader of anything, but to be the first one to break some of these milestones, if you can say like this, is again a positive thing for the portfolio. So I just want to continue playing good tennis.
In 5 years, 2 years, or the next few weeks ?@DaniilMedwed on a potential new World No. 1 after 16 years… pic.twitter.com/saOgJQUBfS
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) February 21, 2022
? Free >> Receive our legendary newsletter
? Join >> Tennishead CLUB, the world’s only virtual tennis club
? Social >>Facebook, Twitter, Instagram & YouTube
? Order >> World’s best tennis magazine
? Shop >> Lowest price tennis gear from our trusted retail partner
