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Djokovic falls to Vesely in Dubai, Medvedev to become world No. 1 on Monday

Novak Djokovic of Serbia reacts during his quarter final match against Jiri Vesely of the Czech Republic at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis ATP Championships 2022 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, 24 February 2022. EPA-EFE/ALI HAIDER

By Ricky Dimon

There will be a new No. 1 player in the ATP rankings on Monday.

In a battle between Novak Djokovic at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships and Daniil Medvedev at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel, Djokovic had to finish with a better result than Medvedev in order to maintain the top spot. With the Russian already in the quarterfinals at his tournament, the Serb had to defeat Jiri Vesely on Thursday for a spot in the semis.

Surprisingly, it didn’t happen for Djokovic.

Vesely stunned the top seed 6-4, 7-6(4), clinching Medvedev’s spot atop the rankings as of next week. The Czech left-hander produced a brilliant performance to take down Djokovic in one hour and 57 minutes.

“I congratulate Jiri,” Djokovic praised. “He played better. He just went for his shots. His serve was big. His whole game was big. When he needed to come up with the good shots, he did, putting a lot of pressure also on my service games.”

“It is great for tennis to have someone new at world No. 1,” Vesely commented. “Novak is such a champion; he has been No. 1 for 361 weeks. But tennis needs a new world No. 1s and there is a new generation coming up. I think it is great.”

Jiri Vesely of the Czech Republic reacts during his quarter final match against Novak Djokovic of Serbia at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis ATP Championships 2022 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, 24 February 2022. EPA-EFE/ALI HAIDER

That new man in the No. 1 spot is Medvedev, who has avoided the chaos that has reigned in Acapulco. The 24-year-old sauntered into the quarterfinals on Wednesday by crushing Pablo Andujar 6-1, 6-2. He preceded that result with a straight-set defeat of Benoit Paire.

“I’m lucky two days in a row not to play at midnight like some other guys,” the Australian Open runner-up noted. “It’s pretty tough conditions, quite humid. Even if we play at night it’s quite hot…, The faster the matches, the better you’re going to feel for the next one.”

For even more reasons now, Medvedev has to be feeling great heading into Thursday’s matchup against Yoshitio Nishioka.

Ricky contributes to10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand. You can follow him on twitter at @Dimonator.