Daniil Medvedev had defended Alexander Zverev amid ongoing chatter that the German doesn’t deserve the year-end No 1 ranking.
Zverev is set to overhaul the injured Jannik Sinner at the top of the rankings, mainly off the back of staying fit and healthy and winning the French Open and US Open in 2026.
The 29-year-old, who made it to the Australian Open semi-finals and Wimbledon final, has benefitted from Sinner being injured since mid-July, in addition to Carlos Alcaraz being sidelined for four months earlier this year.
Moreover, his top 10 record this season is 3-8, including negative head-to-heads with Sinner (0-5), Alcaraz (0-1), and Novak Djokovic (0-1).
However, Zverev has delivered when he inherited the overwhelming favourite tag, and his consistency and ability to stay injury-free cannot be ignored. As many ex-professionals have argued, you can only beat what is in front of you, and the 6ft 6in player has done that.
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Now, Medvedev has also come to Zverev’s aid, saying that the rankings don’t lie over the course of 52 weeks. Prior to his Almaty title win, the Russian was asked if his rival was a worthy No 1, and he gave a fairly emphatic answer.
He told reporters on Saturday, “In terms of rankings, I am not sure there is any other sport that is that fair. Because literally, 52 weeks, whatever you win, whatever you play, you get the points.
“Nobody can argue. Sometimes you go on social media, and you’re like, ‘How is this guy top 10?’. Well, you know how. Last 52 weeks he won more points than other guys, and he’s in the top 10 for points for the last 52 weeks.
“Points are the fairest part that there is in tennis. Of course, probably if Jannik was healthy, he had big chances to win a lot more points but that’s part of sports, unlucky for him. Sascha deserves it, 100%.”
His comments are quite telling, particularly as Zverev has not been too complimentary about Medvedev in the past. Indeed, in 2023, the former accused the latter of being “one of the most unfair players in the world” and that he doesn’t take sportsmanship seriously.
So for the 30-year-old to say this about his Zverev, who is 14-8 down in their head-to-head, may carry extra weight. The German giant is currently second in the rankings behind Sinner but could become No 1 in Vienna this coming week.
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