Djokovic attains seven-year milestone as World No.1 following Medvedev loss

Novak Djokovic reached a remarkable seven years cumulative time spent at the top of the world rankings after Daniil Medvedev lost at the Miami Open.

The Russian would have reclaimed the world No. 1 ranking had he reached the semi-finals, but he lost his quarter-final clash to Hubert Hurkacz. Medvedev entered Thursday’s clash knowing a win over the Pole would have seen him return to the top of the world rankings. However, the 26-year-old struggled amid difficult conditions and lost 7-6 (9-7) 6-3 to the reigning champion.

This means Djokovic remains atop the world rankings, securing his 364th week as the best in the world - which adds up to seven years in total. It is a stunning record that will be difficult to stop, considering he is 54 weeks clear of rival and fellow tennis great Roger Federer.

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Medvedev had to deal with dizziness and fatigue during the match, and was disappointed to not perform at his very best during the ATP Masters 1000 event. In his post-match press conference, Medvedev appeared to be relatively content despite missing the chance to achieve the milestone of world’s best.

“For me, was more important in a way just to win the match itself than to become a No. 1 by winning the match,” Medvedev told reporters. “I saw it more as a bonus. So I don't feel like I was tight or anything because of this.

"To be honest, I played a lot of matches where I had the pressure, different [types], and it's not like something new happened today in terms of like going out of court and feeling crazy tight or something. So I don't think that nerves were part of this.”