Daniil Medvedev was the first player to get to number one outside of the big three in recent years and
Carlos Alcaraz recently became the second.
Andy Murray had a feeling they could do it as he was asked a very simple question at the 2021 Cincinnati Masters. He was asked who could be the next number one and he said that Medvedev seemed like the most likely to get there first based on his level while from the younger ones, he toko Alcaraz.
Back then, Murray said:
“Of the current ones Medvedev would be the guy I would expect to get there first. I think maybe he will need to be a little bit more consistent on the clay to get there, but I think he’s got a good chance. From the young, young ones, I think [Carlos] Alcaraz is really, really good. I think he’s got a good chance at it. I would probably say Alcaraz if I had to pick one from the young guys.”
Both of those things came true in that order exactly 13 months after that. Quite an amazing guess from Murray as it seems that tennis players know tennis. Just recently Kyrgios predicted Alcaraz to win the US Open and he did.