Daniil Medvedev has never made it past round 16 in the BNP Paribas Open. He thus came into the Indian Wells hoping to conquer it. What he did not know was that he would lose his No.1 ranking while leaving it.

The Russian went against the 28th ranked French Gael Monfils in the stadium court in the Californian desert. However, he lost the match with a score of 4-6, 6-3, 6-1. He admitted that the second set was the turning point of the match. Consequently, With this loss, the Russian would also lose his top ranking in the ATP to Novak Djokovic.

Loss of Medvedev

Novak Djokovic would gain his No.1 title back, but Medvedev’s resilience can not be overlooked. Daniil Medvedev said being no.1 gave him motivation instead of pressure during the match. He admitted after losing to Gael Monfils, “It’s just that, yeah, as I say, I didn’t find my best tennis. Well, now I know I’m going to lose it (his ranking), so I have Miami to try to get it back.” He said he usually feels better at playing tennis in Miami and maintained his stance that when he played his best; it is difficult to beat him.

Daniil Medvedev compliments The Big 3 

The Russian focused on the fact that consistency of success in tennis is the tough part of the sport. He complimented The Big 3 and said, “No matter which conditions, no matter which surfaces, they are always, you know, winning tournaments, lot of the time or winning some crazy matches. Yeah, gonna need to try to do better.”

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Medvedev’s comeback

He hopes to play better and increase his points so that he can become world no.1 again and can keep the position for a longer period. Though, he also mentioned that it was still an achievement for him to be world no.1. The Russian player, along with his Russian and Belarusian counterparts, has been playing under a neutral tag following the Russia-Ukraine conflict. However, there have been demands made by the UK sports minister from the player to renounce his support for Vladimir Putin if he wants to play Wimbledon. The Russian and Belarusian teams saw their ban on playing Billie Jea Cup and Davis Cup as well.

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In the present scenario, will Medvedev be able to come back as world no.1, or will he have to settle for achieving the triumph once?