Daniil Medvedev replaced Rafael Nadal as world number two! The Russian felt great about his 10th ATP title as he climbed another level on the ladder. Monday's release of the official rankings confirmed Medvedev's rise up the rankings. With Nadal recovering from a back injury and being out of tournaments, he fell behind in the rankings.
Medvedev claimed his first individual title of the season on Sunday night with 6-4 6-7(4) 6-4 victory against Frenchman Pierre-Hugues Herbert at the Open 13 in Marseille.
"I knew that I would become No.2 no matter what on Monday. It is always better when you step up the rankings when you do something great," Medvedev said. "I know that winning here didn't give me the points to become No.2, but it is great for the self-esteem that just before becoming No.2 on Monday, I win a tournament."
Whatever be the case, this was an occasion for a double celebration as every win matters. Marseille's win was a cherry on top of the '2nd World Ranking' cake for Medvedev.
Medvedev had lined up excellent performances for himself. A winning streak through the Paris Masters, ATP Finals, and team-based ATP Cup that included 12 straight wins helped him climb the ranking ladder. He was a runner-up against Djokovic before he suffered a loss to Serbian Dusan Lajovic at Rotterdam. Medvedev was back to his winning streak in Marseille, where he picked up his 10th Tour title.
"I am really happy about the number 10. It gets me to two digits, something which I dreamt of when I was a kid," said Medvedev. "I think it is already a great number, but I am going to try to work more and get some more ... I like to play on hard courts. I feel like that is where my game suits me the best."