Russia’s Daniil Medvedev officially became the top ranked player in men’s tennis on Monday, dethroning Serbia’s Novak Djokovic.
The 2021 US Open champion Medvedev is the 27th player overall atop the ATP list, and the third man from Russia, following Yevgeny Kafelnikov and Marat Safin.
Djokovic has been top a record 361 weeks in all.
The change was clear after he went out early in Dubai, his first tournament of the year after he was denied entry to the Australian Open by the host country over coronavirus rules.
“Of course I am happy to reach number one. It was my goal since I was young and especially my goal in the latest times,” Medvedev said.
“I got a lot of messages from many people and from other tennis players and I just want to thank everybody for the big support.”
Medvedev, 26, is the first player in 18 years other than the big four of Djokovic, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray to lead the rankings.
His 13 career titles are highlighted by the US Open win last year when he denied Djokovic a calendar year grand slam.
He has also won the ATP Finals and four Masters events.
He leads the latest list ahead of Djokovic and German Alexander Zverev who was disqualified last week in Acapulco for hitting his racket against the umpire’s chair several times.
