Daniil Medvedev loses world No 1 ranking to Novak Djokovic after Indian Wells defeat

Novak Djokovic reacts to his recent media coverage

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Novak Djokovic will return to the top spot in the ATP rankings after Daniil Medvedev suffered a shock defeat to Gael Monfils in the third round of Indian Wells on Monday. Djokovic lost his spot as world No 1 earlier this year after he was banned from competing in the Australian Open.

Medvedev subsequently took the top spot after Djokovic lost in the quarter-finals of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships last month.

And the Russian tennis star had a chance to extend his lead over Djokovic in the rankings if he went on a deep run at Indian Wells.

Djokovic was forced to withdraw from Indian Wells due to Covid restrictions with the 20-time Grand Slam champion unable to compete in upcoming US events.

If Medvedev won in Indian Wells, he would have moved nearly 1000 points clear of the absent Djokovic.

However, there was also the risk that Medvedev would lose his No 1 ranking just as easily if he failed to reach the quarter-finals.

Medvedev made light work of his opening match against Tomas Machac but faced a difficult test against Monfils.

The 26-year-old took the opening set against Monfils, but the Frenchman battled back to force a tiebreak.

And Medvedev’s frustrations got the better of him at the start of the third set, smashing his racket on the court after losing his opening service game.

Monfils took full advantage of a seemingly disturbed Medvedev as he soon raced to a double-break lead.

Rafael Nadal had already shown earlier in the tournament that a comeback from a seemingly impossible position was doable.

But Medvedev struggled to find anyway back against a motivated Monfils, who has enjoyed somewhat of a resurgence on tour in the past few months.

He picked up his 11th ATP title of his career in Adelaide earlier in the year, defeating Karen Khachanov in the final.

And Monfils also matched his career-best performance at the Australian Open by reaching the quarter-final stage.

He’s now followed that up with a huge upset which will see Djokovic move back to the top of the ATP rankings on Monday.

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