Daniil Medvedev is unconcerned by people who would overlook his short-lived stay as the ATP World No. 1.
Medvedev became the first man outside Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, and Andy Murray to hold onto the men's No. 1 ranking since Andy Roddick in 2004. His journey to the top of men's tennis was sparked by titles won in Toronto and his first Grand Slam at the US Open in 2021.
The first time he was ranked World No. 1 was in February 2022, and he stayed there for precisely three weeks before surrendering that spot and dropping to World No. 2.
Medvedev was recently asked whether he was afraid of being known among the players who held the No. 1 ranking for only a handful of weeks. It has to be noted that he can still reclaim that spot after Wimbledon following the ATP's decision to strip Wimbledon points from competing players.
Speaking after his third-round victory over Miomir Kecmanovic, the Russian asserted that "nobody can take away" that achievement regardless of the amount of time he spent there. He drew examples of some iconic tennis players who also held onto the No. 1 ranking for fewer than double-digit weeks.
"I went on the internet and looked just like this on Google, who were the shortest no. 1 players in the world and then I saw Pat Rafter being there for one week, and he's an absolute legend, a Carlos Moya was somewhere there."
"Yeah, two weeks, if it had been asked I would not know these stats. If somebody asked how long was Moya or Rafter number one I would say I don't know. Six months, a year. It's just something that nobody can take away from me. Not that many players could take it while they play tennis. It's a great motivation to come back there."
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