Novak Djokovic and Daniil Medvedev had many battles in the past. In 2021, they played two Grand Slam finals against each other. In the Australian Open final, Djokovic beat the Russian in straight sets to clinch his 9th Australian open title. Later, at the US Open final, Medvedev got his revenge and beat the Serbian in straight sets as well.

Interestingly, after the US Open final, Medvedev showed massive respect for Novak, as he thinks Djokovic is the greatest player of all time. Apart from the rivalry on the court, Djokovic and Daniil share a great bond of friendship. In a recent interview, Djokovic talked about his relationship with Daniil. 

Novak Djokovic talks about his bond with Daniil Medvedev

After the Australian Open final, Daniil Medvedev was pretty upset about the crowd’s behavior against him. In the press conference, the Russian talked about his dream of playing in Grand Slam finals as a kid, but that dream kind of died after the Australian Open final.

Incidentally, Medvedev reached out to Novak after the Australian Open final and Novak talked at great length about his bond with Medvedev. 

“Daniil is a great guy. I have always had an exceptional relationship with him, full of respect, understanding, and support. I think he really appreciates me helping him when he was a junior. I think his coach is from Cannes. So he stays and trains on the Cote d’Azur. When he started competing as a senior, I trained with him a lot. When he asked me a question, I did not hesitate to give him advice, suggestions. I answered questions that could help him in his career,” Novak said about Daniil.

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“We once flew to Nis together when Serbia played against Russia in the Davis Cup. He was very grateful and appreciative when I offered him to fly with me on the plane. Since then, our relationship has always been positive, even though we became really big rivals afterward. We’ve had a lot of extraordinary duels in the past 15 months, especially in 2021,” Djokovic further said. 

Can Medvedev surpass Djokovic to become the new no.1?

Although Djokovic didn’t play in the Australian Open, he still remains the no.1 player in the ATP rankings. Currently, the Serb stands with his decision and that puts him in a position where he might miss the two upcoming grand slams. As a result, he will now miss plenty of tournaments, along with the French Open and Wimbledon. 

Meanwhile, Medvedev has a great chance to become the new no.1 as he will play more tournaments than Djokovic. If he can win a few tournaments, he will be crowned as the new no.1, which will be the first time in Daniil’s career. 

Can Daniil become the new no.1? Let us know in the comments.

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