Medvedev edges closer to world No 1 ranking by reaching Acapulco quarter-final

Medvedev continues to have the upper hand in his battle with Novak Djokovic for the world No 1 ranking

Russia’s Daniil Medvedev celebrates winning his round of 16 match against Spain’s Pablo Andujar at the Abierto Mexicano in Acapulco Image Credit: AI / Reuters / Panoramic

Haresh Ramchandani

February 24, 2022

ATP 500 Acapulco | Results | Schedule

Daniil Medvedev stayed on course to replace Novak Djokovic as the world No 1 next week after cruising past Spain’s Pablo Andujar 6-1, 6-2 at the the Abierto Mexicano Telcel Open in Acapulco. The second round win took Medvedev just one hour and puts the Russian into the quarter-finals of the ATP 500 event.

Medvedev got off to a blistering start, breaking his Spanish opponent on his first two service games to go up 5-0 lead and then wrapped up the first set 6-1.

He started the second set in the same manner, breaking Andujar’s first two service games to go up 4-0, and then held on to complete the 6-1, 6-2 win.

The Russian faced only one single break point on his own serve, winning 88 percent of his points on his first serve (52 percent for Andujar) and 57 percent of points (27 percent for Andujar) on his second serve.

The Russian will next meet qualifier Yoshihito Nishioka, who upset seventh seed Taylor Fritz 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 in another second round match on Wednesday.

How Medvedev can become World No 1 on Monday

While the Russian is competing in Acapulco, the current world No 1 Novak Djokovic, who began his 361st week at the top of the rankings this week, is playing the Dubai Tennis Championships. The Serb also won his second round match on Wednesday, beating Medvedev’s countryman Karen Khachanov 6-3, 7-6 to move into the last eight.

Novak Djokovic at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships 2022

Tennis Majors

With both Medvedev and Djokvoic into the quarter-finals of their respective events, here are the current scenarios in which the Russian can supplant the Serb as No 1.

if Medvedev wins the Acapulco title regardless of what Djokovic does in Dubai;
if Medvedev reaches the Acapulco final and Djokovic does not win the Dubai title;
if Medvedev reaches the Acapulco semi-finals and Djokovic does not reach the Dubai final; or
if the Russian reaches the Acapulco quarter-finals and Djokovic does not reach the Dubai semi-finals

Djokovic seems prepared for the eventuality that Medvedev will replace him as the world’s top-ranked player, if not next week, then in a few weeks time. Speaking in Dubai after his win on Wednesday, the Serb said, “I said it before, he deserves probably more than anybody else to become the No. 1 in the world. Whether it’s going to happen this week, next week or in few weeks, it’s inevitable it’s going to happen. I’ll be the first one to congratulate him. I said that before. He’s a great quality player, no question about it. He’s been working his way up the rankings wonderfully. He deserves to be where he is in the position to get the No. 1.”