New World No. 2 Daniil Medvedev says he will "do his best to become No. 1" - and he has a chance of getting there soon
Daniil Medvedev won his 10th career title at the Open 13 Provence on Sunday, whlie simultaneously also climbing to a career-high ranking of No. 2. The Russian has accumulated a truckload of points over the last 52 weeks, and is now only 2135 points behind World No. 1 Novak Djokovic.
When asked about the possibility of challenging Djokovic for the top spot, Medvedev was grounded in his response - and with good reason. Novak Djokovic has, after all, reigned as the top-ranked male player in the world more than any other player in history, so dislodging him will not be easy.
Medvedev did, however, claim that he will do everything in his power to ultimately reach the top spot - whenever that may be.
"I don't know if I will become No. 1 in my life or not," Daniil Medvedev said. "But I will do my best in training and on the pitch to try to take the most points and, at one point, become No. 1."
Daniil Medvedev also spoke about Roger Federer's return from a year-layoff. According to the 25-year-old, Federer is one of the very few players who could have made the task of coming back from a critical injury seem like child's play.
"In the locker room we were saying that when you come back after not competing for more than a year due to injury, you normally are not able to place the ball inside the court and you just lose in straight sets," Medvedev said. "But he is Roger!"
Novak Djokovic can't add too many points during the clay season, so Daniil Medvedev could get to No. 1 if he puts up decent results himself
Daniil Medvedev has a mathematical chance of dethroning Novak Djokovic from the World No. 1 position by August. The Russian has very few points to defend across the clay and grass seasons, as he didn't produce great results in the first half of 2020.
As per the new COVID-affected ranking system, which takes into account the player's best 19 tournaments across the last two seasons, Daniil Medvedev will next be dropping points from his third-round appearance at Wimbledon 2019. Apart from that he only has points to gain, so he will likely be breathing down Novak Djokovic's neck as the current season progresses.
On the other hand, Novak Djokovic has to defend a mountain of points in the same period, having won the titles at the Rome Masters (2020) and Madrid Masters (2019). The Serb can only add points at the Miami Masters, Monte Carlo Masters (if the event is played) and Roland Garros, at the last of which he finished runner-up to Rafael Nadal in 2020.
Novak Djokovic will also have to defend 1,000 points (rather than the usual 2,000) at this year's Wimbledon, which is scheduled to be held later in the season. The tournament was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic last year, and so will allow 50% retention of the points earned there in 2019.