Medvedev – Rafael Nadal joined Roger Federer in the top-2 on July 25, 2005, proving his status of the second-strongest link on the Tour. For almost 16 years, there were only two other top-2 players, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray, with the ‘big 4’ holding every ranking record in their hands and keeping all the other players away from a chance to break the elite group.
That all changed this Monday when Daniil Medvedev passed Rafael Nadal to join Novak Djokovic in the top-2, becoming only the fifth active player to achieve the honour and breaking the ‘big 4’ dominance after 794 weeks!
Novak Djokovic is still the player to beat, spending his 312th week as world no. 1, 2068 points clear of Medvedev ahead of the season’s first Masters 1000 event in Miami. The Russian confirmed his top-2 status with his tenth ATP title claimed in Marseille on Sunday, prevailing over Pierre-Hugues Herbert in three sets and improving his 2021 score to 14-2.
Rafael Nadal had to leave the top-2 group for the first time since Roland Garros 2017, falling 270 points behind Medvedev and hoping to pass him during the clay swing in April and May.
Dominic Thiem dropped 500 points for his 2019 Indian Wells title, moving further behind Nadal but remaining almost 2000 points clear of Stefanos Tsitsipas, who failed to secure the third consecutive Marseille crown. Roger Federer is 400 points behind the Greek, returning to competition last week in Doha and scoring one victory over Daniel Evans before wasting a match point versus Nikoloz Basilashvili.
There were no other changes in the top-10, while it was the other way around in the 11-20 group, with no one keeping the previous week’s position. The Doha finalist Roberto Bautista Agut gained two places to enter the top-11, while Milos Raonic fell to 19th and lost four spots.
Cristian Garin claimed the title at home in Santiago to add 250 points to his tally and return into the top-20. Nikoloz Basilashvili won the title in Doha out of nowhere, returning into the top-40. The Georgian defeated Roberto Bautista Agut in under an hour and a half, taking the opener in a tie break and dominating the second to lift the first crown since Hamburg 2019.