New world number one Daniil Medvedev is still a long way from Big Three's top level - Mats Wilander

Mats Wilander says Daniil Medvedev cannot yet be talked about as a world No. 1 in the same breath as the 'Big Three' of tennis. That trio of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic — in addition to Andy Murray — have dominated the game collectively for an era, but though they won't be around for ever, their legacy will live on in terms of setting the benchmark for the next generation coming through.

Ad/> Medvedev — having hit the top of the rankings last week — is at the head of that class, but Wilander says he still needs to take another step to reach a higher plane of greatness. TennisDjokovic splits with long-term coach Vajda – report5 HOURS AGO Wilander said: «I think that you can be No. 1 in different ways.

I feel like Daniil Medvedev deserves to be there, but to really go out and be looked upon as the best player in the world every day, he most probably needs to win a couple more Grand Slams while he is No. 1 in the world. »But that's how the ranking works.

That's how the computer works and if you play a lot of tournaments and you're consistent, you deserve to be there, but it must never be confused with being the best player in the world today and being the best player consistently over the last 12 months. There's a huge difference between the two. "[He lost] to Nadal in Acapulco in very humid conditions — the tennis balls are not flying through the air as quickly as they do in Australia and when they do hit the court, they stop skidding through the court because the surface was very slow.