Medvedev leads stacked Rotterdam field in pursuit of No.2 ranking

Having reached his second career Grand Slam final at the Australian Open, Daniil Medvedev is aiming to continue his stellar season with a favorable result at the ABN AMRO WTT Rotterdam.

The top seed leads a strong field at the first ATP 500 event of the season, as he also has to battle with Top 10 players Stefanos Tsitsipas and compatriot Andrey Rublev. However, should Medvedev prevail and lift the title, he would jump to a new career-high ranking of World No.2. This would be even more impressive considering that the last person to hold that position outside the Big Four, was Lleyton Hewitt in 2005.

“The draw is really strong. I think for an ATP 500 event, it’s one of the strongest draws I’ve seen maybe ever,” Medvedev said in a pre-tournament press conference. "We have four Top 10 guys, which is unbelievable.”

“There’s some confidence when you win tournaments. I won three in a row, one of them (the ATP Cup) was a team competition, of course,” he added. “When you get the confidence going, in the tight moments you feel like you can always make the winners or put the ball back in the court when you have to and make your opponent miss.”  

The Russian will face Dusan Lajovic in the opening round, with whom he shares a 1-1 head-to-head record. Having reached the Rotterdam semifinals in 2019, Medvedev will have a tough draw this year as he could potentially face World No.7 Alexander Zverev or recent Montpellier runner-up Roberto Bautista Agut in the semifinal.

Click here for lives scores and results from Rotterdam.