Novak Djokovic Toppled And Daniil Medvedev Is Number One
Locker Room
February 25, 2022
Novak Djokovic can no longer defend his world number one ranking after a surprise defeat to Jiri Vesely in Dubai.
It opened the way for Daniil Medvedev to take over at the top a little earlier than expected.
Monday will be the day everything is confirmed. But it doesn’t matter how Medvedev performs for the next few days. He is now the king.
Novak Djokovic will surely be back with a fresh title tilt at Wimbledon 2022.
But right now the changing of the guard has reached a new and historic milestone.
It’s 18 years since that number one spot was held by anyone other than the Big Four.
Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray have reigned for varying lengths of time during that golden era.
Djokovic was number one for an extraordinary 361 weeks.
We should salute that extraordinary achievement. Ultimately he was undone by a lack of match fitness, brought about by his refusal to be vaccinated.
So maybe we shouldn’t be quite so shocked that the world number 123 and Dubai qualifier Jiri Vesely was able to beat him 6-4, 7-6 (7-4).
Djokovic was so rusty that he double-faulted at key moments in both sets.
Match fitness is a psychological issue and not just a physical one.
Vesely could hardly believe his luck. He said: ‘I never thought I would really have a chance against Novak. It’s an amazing feeling.’
We may have to wait until Wimbledon 2022 before we see the very best of Djokovic once more.
But for the moment let’s be happy for Medvedev. ‘I’m all for peace and I want to promote peace all over the world,’ he emphasised.
Daniil is a quirky and unique tennis star and we hope he can do well at Wimbledon 2022.
No one can deny he deserves his place at the top right now. Even Novak Djokovic has said so.
But don’t discount the so-called Big Four just yet.
Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray and Rafael Nadal could all feature at Wimbledon 2022!
It’s very probably the last Championships that will host all four living legends as singles stars.
Will you be there? We can help you make that happen.