ATP: can Daniil Medvedev still be number one this year?
In all likelihood, Novak Djokovic will also finish the tennis year 2021 as the best in the industry. Due to the Serb's cancellation for Indian Wells, Daniil Medvedev still has a small chance for the top spot.
by Jens Huiber
last edit:
Oct 01, 2021, 03:41 pm
On the one hand: If you win three Grand Slam tournaments and advance to the final in the fourth, you should also be ahead of the game in the world rankings at the end of a tennis year. And so Novak Djokovic not only leads the ATP charts, but also the annual ranking, the Race to Turin, with a sovereign lead.
However, Djokovic announced his cancellation for the penultimate ATP Masters 1000 tournament of the year in Indian Wells a few days ago. Which opened the door a small crack for his first pursuer, Daniil Medvedev.
If you just look at the race, Djokovic and Medvedev are almost exactly 2,000 points apart. So if the Russian won in Indian Wells, this lead would be halved. If Djokovic is not in the mood for Paris-Bercy, and Medvedev is defending his title there, the better performance at the ATP Finals in Turin would be decisive for number one at the end of the season. Right? Not correct!
Djokovic has more "older" points than Medvedev
Because there are still points that were not achieved in the current season, but in 2020 or even 2019. And there Novak Djokovic has another little cushion against Daniil Medvedev. For example, the world number one still includes 500 points in the ranking, which he recorded in 2019 with the tournament victory in Madrid (the points have now been halved after the tournament took place this season). In addition, there are another 500 each for the tournament victories in Dubai 2020 and Tokyo 2019. All in all, Djokovic can look forward to credits of 1,800 points until spring 2022, which he did not earn in 2021.
This special regulation naturally also applies to Daniil Medvedev. However, to a much lesser extent than Djokovic. At the turn of the year, Medvedev can still count on 180 meters from Monte Carlo 2019, plus 150 each from Barcelona and Washington plus 90 from London's Queen's Club from the same year. In total, the number two in the world rankings have 570 points that are longer. So less than a third of Djokovic's.
Can Daniil Medvedev displace Novak Djokovic from the top of the world rankings with a brilliant season-end spurt? It's all but impossible. Because Djokovic will calculate exactly and get exactly those points that he needs for a winter on the tennis throne. Just like he did in Vienna last year.