Stan Wawrinka, Holger Rune and tennis world congratulate Daniil Medvedev on his 18th ATP title win at Dubai Tennis Championships
Daniil Medvedev won his 18th ATP title at the 2023 Dubai Tennis Championships on Saturday and his success has been met with applause from his colleagues on tour.
Daniil Medvedev lifted his third consecutive trophy in Dubai on the back of successive titles in Rotterdam and Doha. He extended his winning streak to 13-0 after defeating Andrey Rublev in the final of the tournament.
The former World No. 1 celebrated his accomplishments with an Instagram post and vowed to keep working hard for further success in the season.
"Keep working and keep going," he captioned the post.
Several tennis players congratulated Daniil Medvedev on his achievement, including World No. 10 Holger Rune.
"Congrats man," Rune commented.
Dubai quarterfinalist Hubert Hurkacz also appreciated the Russian's win.
"Congrats," Hurkacz wrote.
Three-time Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka commented using applause emojis, while Denis Shapovalov used clapping emojis to express his admiration for Medvedev. The Australian Open Instagram account and Manchester United footballer David de Gea also made their appreciation known.
Daniil Medvedev expressed his desire to see Novak Djokovic retain the World No. 1 spot for a long time
Daniil Medvedev defeated Novak Djokovic 6-4, 6-4 in the semifinals of the Dubai Tennis Championships en route to the title. Speaking during his post-tournament press conference, the Russian joked about his desire to see Djokovic retain the top spot in the rankings due to the way his ranking affects their head-to-head.
Medvedev leads 5-3 against Djokovic when the Serb is World No. 1, as opposed to 0-6 when he isn't.
"Actually I saw one crazy one that I am 5-3 against Novak when he's No. 1. I'm 0-6 when he's not No. 1. I'm like, Stay No. 1 as long as you can. If I can play you when you're No. 1, will be better," Medvedev said.
The former World No. 1 will compete at the Indian Wells Masters next, scheduled to begin on March 11. Medvedev stated that he is looking forward to the upcoming tournament and hopes to win matches there, with the ultimate goal of winning the tournament.
He acknowledged that winning will not be easy, but is determined to maintain his current level of play and achieve big things this season.
"As I said, tomorrow long flight to Indian Wells. New tournament, new story. Want to win some matches there. Of course, want to win the tournament, but there is only one winner, so that's not easy," he said.
Daniil Medvedev's best result at the Indian Wells Masters came in 2021 with a fourth-round finish. In 2022, the former World No. 1 was ousted from the tournament by Gael Monfils in the second round.