Novak Djokovic’s leadership at the head of the ATP ranking is in serious danger in the final stretch of February, since the Serbian can see how his historic figure of 360 weeks as number one in the ranking stops (next week he will turn 361) and how the streak of 86 consecutive weeks at the top of the ranking at the hands of the Russian comes to an end Daniil Medvedev, who has serious options to climb to number 1 in the ATP ranking for the first time in his career.
It all depends on what happens next February 21 at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships and at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel de Acapulcowhere Djokovic and Medvedev will compete respectively, and which distributes 500 points to the champion of each tournament.
The ATP published this Saturday what Medvedev’s accounts are to dethrone Djokovic as number 1. And it is that the Serbianwho will have 8,875 points next week after losing 2,000 as champion of the Australian Open 2021, he will not be able to add, since he defends the 500 points as champion of the Dubai Tournament in 2020which puts at risk that he can retain number one.
In this way Medvedev depends on himself to unseat Djokovic at the top of the standings. The Russian, who next week will have 8,435 points after being subtracted from 1,200 as a finalist of the Australian Open 2021, will automatically rise to number 1 if he manages to add 500 points as champion in Acapulco, since he would be placed with 8,935, becoming the fourth Russian tennis player to reach this milestone after Yevgeny Kaflenikov and Marat Safin.
Medvedev can also climb to number one in the ATP ranking even if he doesn’t win the title in Acapulco. For it, must reach the final in Mexico and that Djokovic does not win in Dubai. It would also climb to number one if it reaches semifinals in Acapulco and Djokovic does not reach the final in Dubai, and if Medvedev reaches the quarterfinals or the second round in Acapulco and Djokovic misses the semifinals in Dubai. The last option, and the most remote for Medvedev, is that the Russian loses at the first change in Acapulco and Djokovic does not reach the quarterfinals in Dubai.
In the event that Medvedev rises to the top of the ranking, the Russian would become the first new number 1 in the ranking since 2011, when Andy Murray managed to climb to the top for the first time. He would also become first non-Big-Four tennis player to climb to the top of the rankings since 2004, when Andy Roddick did it. Acapulco and Dubai will decide if there is a change of guard at the top of world tennis.