Novak Djokovic still reigns in the rankings despite Jannik Sinner success
Daniil Medvedev says no one should be hailing Jannik Sinner yet as being better than Novak Djokovic despite his recent successes.
Sinner won the Australian Open title, coming back from two sets down to beat Medvedev in the final. That came after the Italian beat Djokovic in the semi-final, ending his 33-match unbeaten streak at the tournament.
Djokovic also lost to Sinner at the Davis Cup and ATP Finals, although he did win the tournament after beating the 22-year-old in the final.
That is starting to look like Sinner can beat Djokovic consistently, but Medvedev has warned of the dangers of trying to make mountains out of moments in tennis.
“This tournament he was the best player in the world, and that’s why he won this Slam, but we never know what happens next,” Medvedev said when asked if Sinner was now the top dog in men’s tennis.
“Right now he’s No 1 in the race [to Turin]. He continues playing like this, continues winning tournaments like this, he’s going to be No 1 in the world at one moment.
“We never know what can happen. Many, many things can happen in the tennis career.
“That’s why I think tennis is a beautiful sport because you cannot look in the future. You don’t know.
“Again, if he stays healthy and plays like he played this tournament, one moment he’s going to be No 1. Two months, in one year, in two years, one moment.
“You know, many players went through different moments in their seasons and careers, so let’s see how Jannik handles everything that is going to happen.
“I myself put myself in a good position. I guess I would be No. 2 in the race. I’ll try my best to be somewhere there close by also.”
Can Jannik Sinner overtake Novak Djokovic as world number one?
That will surely be Sinner’s goal for 2024 and rightly so. He is playing incredible tennis and shouldn’t be fearing anyone at all.
Displacing Djokovic in the rankings is not easy, though. He has now spent 410 weeks sitting at top of men’s tennis, which is 100 more than even Roger Federer managed.
And, in truth, he is still some way off launching a genuine challenge.
Djokovic is 1,545 points ahead of Sinner, but Sinner has a lot of points to defend in the coming weeks while the Serbian does not. It is premature, then, to expect an immediate challenge.
That said, a good Sunshine Double in Miami and Indian Wells and Sinner will certainly set himself up to maybe target the top spot over clay season.
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