Medvedev reacts to losing world number one status
Russia’s Daniil Medvedev has vowed to work his way back up the ATP rankings after being toppled from the world number one spot by Spanish teenager Carlos Alcaraz following the US Open.
Medvedev, 26, saw his reign at the summit of the tennis ratings come to an end after his fourth-round exit at the hands of Nick Kyrgios in New York earlier this month.
Alcaraz, 19, subsequently became the youngest ever men’s player to rise to the number one spot after he won the US Open title, beating Norway’s Casper Ruud in the final.
Medvedev, who won the 2021 US Open crown, dropped to fourth spot in the world rankings, behind Alcaraz, Ruud, and Rafael Nadal.
Ahead of the closing stages of the season, which will see Medvedev return to action as top seed at the Moselle Open in France this week, the Russian vowed not to dwell on his recent downturn.
“To be honest, I didn’t feel much when I lost the number one spot,” Medvedev said, as quoted by Eurosport.
“The ranking is the consequence of your results and if we take the American summer, for example, I did not take enough points to stay number one, or even number two or three.
“Whereas Casper, Carlos, Rafa, of course, with the two Grand Slams he won at the start of the year, they took a lot more points. So, it’s just logical.
“I have no feelings about it, no reason to cry. I can only tell myself that I have to do better if I want to find this place in the future.”
Looking ahead to the end of his 2022 campaign, Medvedev noted that there were significant points up for grabs at the ATP Masters 1000 in Paris, as well as the season-ending ATP Finals in Turin, where the winner can claim up to 1,500 points.
“It’s a very important part of the season for me. I really like playing indoors, so I only find positives in this part of the season,” said Medvedev.
“Indoor is very different, you always have to adapt. Paris and the ATP Finals are obviously the biggest.
“Of course, there is no Grand Slam ahead and it’s the only time in the season where you play tournaments without a Slam coming.
“But next year, the Australian Open will come very fast after the end of the season. So it’s important to gain confidence at the end of the year.”
Medvedev has already racked up a total of 16 weeks as world number one across two spells this year, overtaking Marat Safin as a record for a Russian male professional.
Medvedev achieved the feat even though he was hampered by surgery for a hernia operation prior to the French Open.
Along with his fellow Russians, he was also banned from Wimbledon this year because of the conflict in Ukraine, although the ATP and WTA stripped the tournament of rankings points in response.
Medvedev said he was aiming to use the end of the season as a springboard to start 2023 strongly – including at the Australian Open in January, where he was a beaten finalist last time round.
“It’s important for me to take a lot of points indoors [at the end of 2022] to be seeded as high as possible in Melbourne,” said Medvedev.
“With all the tournaments I will play, I can take as much as 3,750 points. Of course, it will be almost impossible to reach that, but 2,500, 3,000, why not? It would be cool to end the year that way.
“If I manage to collect a lot of points, then, maybe, I’ll have a chance to regain the number one spot in the coming year.”
Alcaraz leads the way in the ATP ratings on 6,740 points, ahead of 23-year-old Ruud, who has 5,850.
Twenty-two-time Grand Slam winner Nadal trails in third on 5,810 points, with Medvedev in fourth on 5,065.
Completing the current top five is Alexander Zverev on 5,040, although the German recently suffered a setback with his plans to return from the ankle injury he suffered in the semifinals of the French Open back in July.
