Earlier this week, there were 2 notable developments on the ATP rankings of world men's tennis. One is that Novak Djokovic regained the world No. 1 position from Daniil Medvedev despite not competing, while Rafael Nadal rose to 3rd place thanks to reaching the Indian Wells final.
The world No. 1 ranking belonged to Medvedev on February 28, after Djokovic was eliminated early at the Dubai Championship, while the Russian tennis player reached the Mexico Open final (losing to Nadal). Medvedev has become the 27th player in history to top the ATP Rankings since the rankings began in 1973.
Medvedev continues to participate in the BNP Paribas Open recently and needs a minimum achievement of reaching the quarter-finals to maintain the No. 1 position. However, the 26-year-old could only make it to the third round (losing to Gael Monfils), so he only kept his position for 3 weeks.
Earlier this week, Djokovic returned to his old position and spent at least two more weeks there also the 362nd and 363rd weeks of his career. Medvedev will participate in the Miami Open in the next 2 weeks, while Djokovic will continue to be out because the tournament in the US requires players to be vaccinated.
That means Medvedev has a chance to regain the No. 1 spot in 2 more weeks, with the condition to achieve at the Miami Open being to reach the semi-finals. That will also be Medvedev's best achievement in the tournament, because 2021 was the first time he reached the quarter-finals but lost to Roberto Bautista Agut after 2 consecutive sets.
If he reaches the round of 4 of the strongest players at the second ATP Masters 1000 event of the season, he will have the fourth week on top of the world on April 4. If Medvedev cannot reach the semi-finals, Nole will still keep the No. 1 position.
Djokovic (8,465 points) is currently holding a 55-point advantage over Medvedev (8,410). On 4 April, Djokovic will be deducted points at Miami 2019 (45) and Medvedev will be deducted points from Miami 2021 (180), giving the Serbian tennis player a 190-point lead. However, as mentioned, because Djokovic does not play in Miami, the fight for the No. 1 spot is in Medvedev's hands. The four-time ATP Masters 1000 champion will try to win his first title of the season in Florida.
Medvedev has a good chance, as in addition to Djokovic, Nadal - who beat him in two confrontations in 2022, insists he had not been involved before being injured at Indian Wells and had to miss six weeks. According to the announcement of the organizing committee, Medvedev will be the number 1 seed of the tournament and according to the branch, he can meet former world number 1 Andy Murray in round 2, meet Hubert Hurkacz - the defending champion, in the quarter-finals.
In this year's tournament, although no one in the Big Three group (Roger Ferderer cannot return), the challenge for Medvedev will be young tennis players such as Carlos Alcaraz who are improving remarkably, Taylor Fritz - champion of Indian Wells, Denis Shapovalov, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Felix Auger-Aliassime, Andrey Rublev, Reilly Opelka, Matteo Berrettini, John Isner, Alexander Zverev or even Monfils...
The journey with Medvedev will not be easy to regain the No. 1 position.
