Berlin – Daniil Medvedev, the new number one in world tennis, began his reign with a message of peace.
Before Medvedev could also officially read on Monday that he now tops the men’s world rankings, the Russian appealed for peace in the world and between countries on behalf of all children and their dreams. Medvedev did not mention the Russian invasion of Ukraine in his Instagram message.
S difficult time for the new the number 1
The 26-year-old Moscow native has climbed to the throne during a difficult time, where for more than a decade and a half it was mainly Serb Novak Djokovic, who he replaced, Spain’s Rafael Nadal and Switzerland’s Roger Federer who sat. In view of the Russian attack on Ukraine, there are more and more resolutions and efforts to no longer compete against Russian teams and to exclude athletes from events.
So far, there have been no calls in professional tennis to ban Russian pros like Medvedev or world number six Andrei Rublyov. “We play in so many different countries, I was in so many different countries as a junior and as a professional. It’s not easy to hear all this news,” Medvedev said at the Acapulco tournament last week. “Waking up here in Mexico and seeing the news from home was not easy.”
Third Russian at the top of the rankings
Medvedev is the third Russian professional at the top of the world rankings and the 27th overall, after Yevgeny Kafelnikov and Marat Safin, who are also decorated with Grand Slam titles. The last time Britain’s Wimbledon and Olympic champion Andy Murray managed to move ahead of Djokovic, Federer and Nadal was in November 2016.
Medvedev had celebrated his first triumph at one of the four major tournaments with a final victory over Djokovic at the US Open last September. “He deserves to be number one,” Djokovic said last week at the Dubai tournament, where he was eliminated early. Before that, the Serb, who had not been vaccinated against the corona virus and was number one for a whopping 361 weeks, was not allowed to defend his Australian Open title and lost many points.
The 34-year-old, who like Federer has won 20 times at Grand Slam tournaments, is now number two ahead of Alexander Zverev of Hamburg. “Of course I am happy that I became number one. That was my goal since I was young and especially lately,” Medvedev said.
Unorthodox-looking game
The almost two-metre-long lanky player now has to prove that he is not only the best in the statistics of the past 52 weeks. Nadal, who has been suffering from a foot injury for a long time, defeated Medvedev in the Australian Open final and won Grand Slam title number 21. The 35-year-old also won the rematch in Acapulco last week.
The sympathies of many fans belonged to Nadal in the grand five-set final in Melbourne, as Medvedev has tangled with the crowd here and there in the past. But his unorthodox-looking game, with its sweeping forehand and strong serve, gives Medvedev every chance of maintaining his position. But it will be at least as difficult to be a good ambassador in these times.
