Daniil Medvedev’s reply to Novak Djokovic after Serb congratulates ‘deserving’ new No 1

Daniil Medvedev has responded to Novak Djokovic’s touching message after overtaking the Serbian as the world No 1. The Russian climbed ahead of Djokovic after reaching the semi-final of last week’s Mexican Open. 

Djokovic had held the position of a staggering 361 weeks before he was surprisingly knocked out of the Dubai Tennis Championships by world No 74 Jiri Vesely.  

The Czech defeated the 35-year-old in straight sets in the quarter-final.  

Medvedev had to at least match Djokovic’s performance at the Mexican Open to become the new top-ranked player in the world.  

And the 25-year-old reached the semi-final before he was defeated by eventual winner Rafael Nadal. 

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Djokovic tweeted after his match on February 24: “Well played @jiri_vesely, that was a great game. Wish you the best of luck for the rest of the tournament. 

“Congratulations also to a very deserving @DaniilMedwed, who will now become world number 1.” 

And Medvedev replied on Monday evening, simply going back to Djokovic with two praying emojis.  

The Australian Open finalist had already acknowledged becoming the new world No. 1 earlier in the day.

The Serb was initially given a medical exemption, but the Australian government opposed his entry into the country due to his strong Covid vaccine scepticism. 

Nadal was able to move ahead of Djokovic and Roger Federer to 21 Grand Slams after winning in Melbourne. 

And Djokovic has insisted he is willing to miss further tournaments if vaccination against the virus is a condition of entry.  

Asked why by the BBC, he said: “Because the principles of decision making on my body are more important than any title or anything else. I’m trying to be in tune with my body as much as I possibly can.”

Djokovic, however, will return to world No 1 in two weeks’ time when Medvedev’s 250 points from his title win in Marseille last season are taken off due to a year passing since his achievement.