Novak Djokovic will be overtaken as world number one by Daniil Medvedev on Monday after a shock loss to Jiri Vesely in the quarter-finals of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
Playing his first tournament of the year following his deportation from Australia, Djokovic was relatively comfortable in his first two matches.
But a combination of some unusual mistakes and an inspired opponent contributed to a 6-4 7-6 (4) defeat that spells the end of Djokovic’s current two-year reign at the top of the rankings.
HE'S GONNA BE NUMBER 1, BRO 🥇@DaniilMedwed will become the NEW ATP WORLD NO. 1! pic.twitter.com/a57CbVdBs4
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) February 24, 2022
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The Serbian has sat in the number one spot since overtaking Rafael Nadal on February 2, 2020, setting a new record last March for weeks at the top that currently stands at 361.
But next week that position will be taken by US Open champion Medvedev, who is through to the quarter-finals of the Mexican Open in Acapulco.
The Russian knew going into this week that a title would guarantee him top spot and, speaking at the weekend, Djokovic said: “He deserves to be number one. Eventually it’s going to happen. If it happens this week, I’ll be the first one to congratulate him.”
For 921 weeks, four men have shared the @ATPTour World No. 1 ranking. That changes with @DaniilMedwed on Monday.
Weeks at No. 1 since 2 February 2004@DjokerNole 361@RogerFederer 310@RafaelNadal 209@Andy_Murray 41
NOTE: Excludes 22 weeks when ATP Rankings were frozen in 2020— ATP Media Info (@ATPMediaInfo) February 24, 2022
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Medvedev, who suffered an agonising five-set loss to Nadal in the final of the Australian Open last month, will become the first man other than Djokovic, Nadal, Roger Federer and Andy Murray to hold the world number one ranking since Andy Roddick in February 2004.
Czech Vesely is ranked down at 123 but has been playing well above that this week, and the 28-year-old is the lowest-ranked player to beat Djokovic for almost four years.
Djokovic retrieved an early break but Vesely, who won their only previous meeting in Monte Carlo six years ago, pressured the top seed’s serve again in the seventh game and held his nerve to take the first set.
He broke Djokovic for a third time in the seventh game of the second set and, although he was unable to serve out the victory, Vesely claimed the tie-break to secure a famous win.
