Medvedev loses way to the top

Daniil Medvedev isn’t playing like the world’s number one player.

He hasn’t won a title since beating Novak Djokovic to win the US Open last September, and he blew a big lead to Rafa Nadal in the Australian Open final in January. He even lost the final in s’Hertogenbosch to Tim van Rijthoven. On Sunday, Medvedev lost the first five games of the final of the Terra Wortmann Open in Halle, Germany. Hubert Hurkacz whipped Medvedev 6-1, 6-4 in just 63 minutes.

But Medvedev has become number one due to the quirky ranking system of the ATP. In an irony worthy of tennis in the year 2022, Medvedev became number one because Wimbledon banned players from Russia and Belarus to protest against Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, and then the ATP and WTA protested against Wimbledon by promising to withhold rankings points from The Championships at Wimbledon in 2022 as well as Wimbledon 2021.

Medvedev apologized to fans in Halle. ”I’m sorry for the audience that I couldn’t make it a more exciting match today. You even supported me against a German player (Oscar Otte) here on Saturday. Thanks for that. I’ll be back.“

Apologies aside, Medvedev will likely remain number one all the way to the US Open. And if Canada and the United States continue to ban entry of unvaccinated foreigners, Medvedev might not have to face Djokovic along the way.

–words and images copyright Christopher Johnson Globalite Media all rights reserved