Novak Djokovic keeps ATP throne after Daniil Medvedev's early Madrid loss

Daniil Medvedev became only the fifth player to crack the top-2 since 2005, joining Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray in that feat.

The Russian lost second place in the rankings to Rafael Nadal but will have a chance to regain it in the next couple of weeks, defending no points in Madrid and Rome, unlike Novak and Rafa. The Russian had the opportunity to become world no. 1 after next week, although he had to raise his level on clay significantly and hope for Djokovic's early exit in Rome next week.

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To conquer the ATP throne, Medvedev needed the title in Madrid or Rome and the semi-final at the other event, combined with Djokovic's failure to reach the title match at Foro Italico. Those calculations were over only a couple of days since the ATP released the scenario, with the Russian losing in the Madrid Open third round to Cristian Garin. Thus, Novak will remain world no. 1 ahead of Roland Garros, with Medvedev and Nadal fighting for second place.

Medvedev confirmed once again that he can't bring his best tennis on clay at the moment, losing to Garin 6-4, 6-7, 6-2 in two and a half hours. Daniil followed the rival's pace in the opening two sets before losing ground in the decider, suffering three breaks and creating only one chance on the return that Cristian erased to keep the initial shot intact.

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The Chilean tamed his strokes nicely after landing 29 winners and 24 unforced errors and taking advantage of over 40 unforced mistakes from the racquet of world no. 3. Cristian overpowered Daniil in the shortest and mid-range exchanges to seal the deal in style and advance into the last eight.