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By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Monday March 15, 2020



Daniil Medvedev has closed the gap on Novak Djokovic to just over 200 points this week in the ATP rankings, but the new World No.2 tells Tennis Now that he thinks it is very possible that the Serb could hold on to the No.1 ranking for a lot longer.

Tennis Express

We asked him what he thought of Djokovic’s accomplishment last week in Marseille, and whether or not Djokovic could get to 400 weeks at No.1.

"First of all it's an unbelievable achievement, you know for sure I think the world of tennis we talk about Grand Slams more than anything else, but this is also a small competition,” Medvedev said. “I'm sure he's really happy about it.”

Medvedev admitted that Djokovic is playing well enough to remain at the top of the rankings for a long time, but he says he’ll do everything in his power to challenge him.

“The way he's playing he's definitely capable of catching 400 weeks,” he said. “After we are going to try to not let him do this. I didn't manage to do anything in the Australian Open final, but we know that's what sports is about. Nobody is going to give him an easy task, he's going to have to earn it. But as I always said about the big three they are unbelievable, the records they have set, they are probably not going to be beaten maybe in 100 years. It's very rare that you see this in sports and I don't think you can say that other players were not good enough in this era, it's just they were unbelievable and there is nothing for others to be ashamed of."




Medvedev won the Marseille title on Sunday, and afterwards we asked him how he felt about pursuing the No.1 ranking, given that he was now the first non-Big 4 player to hold the No.2 ranking since Lleyton Hewitt in 2005.

"For sure I mean it's a great challenge,” he said. “The higher you go, I always said that to become No.2 tomorrow it's going to be a goal I already achieved, so the next one is No.1 - there is nothing higher than that. Of course for this I feel like you need to win Slams, especially with Rafa and Novak playing. You know they are not going to let you just get there with some good results on 500 and Masters, so you need to make some amazing results. But if I continue the good work, if I continue to show some of the results I was capable of, I definitely have the chance, but it's not easy, especially with all the guys that are fighting against you on tour, 365 days, all year long."


 

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