Medevdev to lose No 1 ranking after third round defeat to Monfils at Indian Wells

Novak Djokovic will make a swift return to the top of the ATP rankings after Daniil Medvedev was defeated in the third round at Indian Wells by Frenchman Gael Monfils.

Medvedev took over the No 1 spot two weeks ago after Djokovic lost in the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships quarter-finals, and the Russian needed to at least reach the last eight at Indian Wells to retain the top ranking. However, he fell to a 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 loss to world No 28 Monfils.

Monfils let out a roar as he secured the upset on the sixth match point with a backhand winner to set up a meeting with Spanish teenager Carlos Alcaraz in the fourth round.

"I'm quite happy right now - I'm in my zone," Monfils said. "I moved quite good and then I changed the speed quite a lot."

The Frenchman handed Medvedev the break in the ninth game of the first set with a pair of double faults and two forehand errors, as the reigning US Open champion dropped just four points on his serve in the opener.

But Medvedev lost the momentum in the second set, unable to convert on five of six break point opportunities. Monfils broke him in the fourth game with a backhand winner and again in the eighth with a powerful forehand.

Overcoming obvious exhaustion, Monfils won the first four games of the final set as Medvedev was unable to set up a single break point opportunity. It was the first time in 13 years that the 35-year-old Monfils beat the No 1-ranked player in the world.

Twenty-time Grand Slam winner Djokovic will return to the top of the world rankings when they are updated next Monday, despite being absent from Indian Wells due to the United States' Covid-related entry rules requiring all foreign visitors to be vaccinated. The Serb is unvaccinated and is therefore