Novak Djokovic to remain world number 1 for another week

Wednesday, 04 May 2022 at 08:30

Updated at Monday, 24 June 2024 at 12:26

Djokovic Novak SerbiaOpen2022 FlorinBaltatoiu47

byErik Virostko

At the 2022 Madrid Open, the reigning world number one on the ATP Tour, Novak Djokovic, had only one task to complete to remain the no. 1 player for another week, and he completed it.

Entering the clay-court ATP Masters 1000 tournament, the 34-year-old had 8,400 points to his name. Daniil Medvedev behind him had 8,080 points, but the Russian won't be competing in the Spanish capital because of a surgery.

Therefore, the Serbian's only challenger for the world no. 1 spot is currently Alexander Zverev, who had 7,420 points to his name prior to the tournament, and had he won it, and Djokovic lost in the opening round, he would become the world no. 1 after the Madrid Open.

That was the only scenario that would have guaranteed the German player the world no. 1 spot, but his dream came crashing already after his rival's first match in the Spanish capital.

Djokovic defeated Gael Monfils in straight sets, 6-3 6-2, to advance to the next round in Madrid, and that was enough for him to stay the world no. 1 player for at least one more week.

Now, he will try to go as far as possible in Madrid to secure his position as world number one even more, securing more points for the ATP Rankings and creating a bigger gap between himself and the rest of the field.

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In the next round, the Serbian will play against the winner of the match between Andy Murray and Denis Shapovalov. His win also extended his record as world number one to 369 weeks, and it might be possible for him to reach even the magical 400 this year, but it's not something that bothers him.

"I don't think about that too much. For me, mentally, this is a very important win. I played one of the most athletic and quickest players that we have in the game. I know his game very well. I know I have to always be ready that another ball will always come back from his part of the court, that you have to constantly try to have a controlled aggression… and dictate the point."

"I was moving well, dictating with the forehand side, moving him around the court and finding my serve [and] also the last few service games, [finding my] return."