Medvedev could become ATP World Number One after Acapulco

Daniil Medvedev’s pursuit of the World No 1 ranking remains in his own hands despite the imminent return to action of current number one Novak Djokovic.

Daniil Medvedev is in pursuit of the ATP world number one spot as the difference between him and Djokovic is set to be the lowest in a very long time. Medvedev can become the 27th man to hold the top spot since the rankings were introduced. So how does he get it? Well, Medvedev needs to match or better Djokovic’s performance in Dubai to take the top spot.

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He will play in Acapulco while Djokovic will be in Dubai. Both events are ATP 500 events and both yield the same number of points. That is why Medvedev only needs to match Djokovic in order to take the number one spot and he will certainly take it if he does better than Djokovic. If Medvedev manages to become World No 1, he will be the third Russian man to accomplish the feat, joining Yevgeny Kafelnikov (1999) and Marat Safin (2000-01).

The Russian becomes number one of anything of these things happen:

• Medvedev wins the Acapulco title, regardless of Djokovic’s results in Dubai
• Medvedev reaches the Acapulco final and Djokovic does not win the Dubai title
• Medvedev reaches the Acapulco semi-finals and Djokovic does not reach the Dubai final
• Medvedev reaches the Acapulco quarter-finals and Djokovic does not reach the Dubai semi-finals
• Medvedev reaches the second round in Acapulco and Djokovic does not reach the Dubai semi-finals
• Medvedev loses in the first round in Acapulco and Djokovic does not reach the Dubai quarter-finals