With three weeks at the top of world tennis, the Russian Daniil Medvedev will return the ATP number one to Novak Djokovic after falling on Monday in the third round of the Indian Wells Masters 1000 against Gael Monfils.
The Frenchman, number 28 in the ATP, gave the big surprise of the first Masters 1000 of the year by beating Medvedev 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 to the joy of the Californian fans.
Medvedev, who ascended the throne with Djokovic’s defeat in the Dubai quarterfinals on February 24, He will return first place next Monday after the end of Indian Wells, where the Serb does not compete due to his refusal to be vaccinated against the coronavirus.
The Moscow tennis player needed to reach at least the quarterfinals to remain at the top of the ranking when the new ranking is published.
“I know I’m going to lose it, so I have Miami to try and get it back. Normally I feel a little better playing there,” said the Russian about his participation in the next Miami Masters 1000 (March 21-April 3), where neither Djokovic nor Rafa Nadal will compete.
Although before Indian Wells he agreed to feel pressured to maintain the leadMedvedev assured that this responsibility did not weigh on him against Monfils and that he was simply not up to his level.
At 26 years old, Medvedev underlined the value of having reached the top of the circuit even if he doesn’t catch up again in his run.
“Is it better to be number one for, say, a week in your life or never touch it? I think it’s better to at least touch it,” he stressed. “Of course I want to be there for a long time, winning a lot of Grand slams. You never know how your career is going to turn out. I want to try to be better than I was here.”
– Under the flag of Ukraine –
In their second meeting in the Californian desert, Medvedev saw veteran Monfils come back from an opening set and he paid for his frustration by crashing the racket to the ground in the third set.
“I didn’t play my best game. Gael played well and it was enough for him to win today,” he admitted. “There’s something about the desert air I don’t like, the same happens in Dubai, for example. Maybe that was because I felt like I couldn’t play aggressive.”
Thousands of spectators celebrated the victory of the Parisian on the center court of Indian Wells, the second largest in the world, where the Ukrainian flag flies alongside that of the United States in support of the European country in the face of the Russian invasion.
When asked, Medvedev has called for peace but he has received some criticism for not directly condemning the invasion of his country’s government.
With his early departure, Rafa Nadal is now the favorite to add his fourth trophy in Indian Wellswhere Djokovic could not attend because the United States does not allow the arrival of unvaccinated foreigners.
For this reason, the Serbian was also unable to defend his Australian Open crown in January.where Nadal overtook him in the race for Grand Slam crowns thanks to an epic victory in the final against Medvedev.
Djokovic will thus regain the world number one that he held for a record 361 weeks until briefly leaving it in the hands of Medvedev.
– Indian Wells earthquake –
On Monday morning, the ground of the desert Indian Wells shook briefly from a small earthquake (3.1 on the Richter scale) anticipating a major earthquake on the tennis tournament court.
In his second match as the best racket in the world, Medvedev advanced against Monfils in a first set conquered based on patience and defensive tennis.
Monfils, sensing insecurities, moved up a gear in the second round with changes of pace, strong and subtle volleys left applauded even by his opponent.
At the start of the deciding set, Medvedev was furious at losing his first serve.oy paid for it by smashing the racket against the ground three times.
Monfils had taken the measureto the powerful serve of the Russian and broke again to advance 3-0.
completely pale, Medvedev barely managed to add a game before the celebration of the public and the satisfaction of Monfils, who got his second victory over a world number one after beating Nadal in 2009.
