Daniil Medvedev backed to regain top spot in rankings ‘pretty rapidly’ by former British No 1

It is only a matter of time before Daniil Medvedev usurps Novak Djokovic again at the top of the ATP Rankings, according to former British No 1 Tim Henman.

Medvedev failed to regain the world No 1 ranking at the first time of asking after losing against defending champion Hubert Hurkacz in the quarter-final of the Miami Open.

The US Open champion had to reach the last four in Florida to take over from Djokovic after the 20-time Grand Slam winner returned to No 1 following Medvedev’s three-week spell at the top at the beginning of March.

And STILL

Defending champion @HubertHurkacz extends his winning streak in Miami to a perfect 10 matches – taking out Medvedev 7-6(7) 6-3!#MiamiOpen pic.twitter.com/iwkJQylHsf

— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) March 31, 2022

Henman says Medvedev is primed to return to No 1 during the clay-court season as he doesn’t have too many points to defend while Djokovic is still not certain if he will be able to play a full clay-court season due to his unvaccinated status

“In the context of that conversation, if Medvedev hadn’t already been No 1, then it is a big issue, but the fact he’s already been there – and yes, he’d rather be one than two – means I don’t think it’s such a big issue for Medvedev,” he told Amazon Prime.

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“If you look at the ranking points coming up, because he played so poorly on clay last year, I think he will get back to one pretty rapidly, especially if Djokovic is only playing a curtailed schedule.”

What made Medvedev’s quarter-final exit so surprising was the