On Monday, Daniil Medvedev rose to a career-best No. 2 in the ATP rankings, making him the first man other than Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, or Andy Murray to hold either of the top two spots in 15½ years. According to ESPN, Lleyton Hewitt was the last man outside of that quartet to sit at No. 1 or No. 2. He ranked second in July 2005, behind Federer.
According to the publication, Medvedev rose from No. 3 to swap places with Nadal a day after winning the Open 13 tournament in Marseille, France, for his 10th career title. Since Hewitt’s most recent stay at No. 2, that spot has been held for 368 weeks by Nadal, 203 by Federer, 144 by Djokovic, and 41 by Murray.
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Djokovic is currently in his 312th career week at No. 1; he recently broke Federer’s record of 310 total weeks in the top spot. Medvedev twice has been the runner-up at a Grand Slam tournament, losing to Djokovic in the final of the Australian Open last month and to Nadal in the final of the 2019 US Open.
The 25-year-old from Russia is now 14-2 in 2021 and has won 23 of his last 25 matches, including the last three tournaments he entered last season. He spoke to ATP about his recent achievement. “I am really happy. I knew that I would become No. 2 no matter what on Monday,” said Medvedev, the runner-up to Novak Djokovic at the Australian Open final last month.
“It is always better when you step up the rankings when you do something great,” he added. Apart from Djokovic and Nadal, only Roger Federer and Andy Murray have held the position in that time. Djokovic last week broke Federer’s record for the number of weeks spent in the top spot.
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