Djokovic falls to Vesely and loses the number one in the world

Novak Djokovic will no longer be number one in the world next Monday. This Thursday, at the ATP 500 in Dubai, the Serbian lost his privileged position in the ranking when falling in quarters before Jiri Vesely (6-4 and 7-6 (4) in 1h57), since he needed to reach at least the semifinals to have a chance of retaining it. The 28-year-old Czech and 123rd in the world (he was 35th in 2015) had to play the qualifier to later eliminate Marin Cilic, Roberto Bautista and the winner of 20 Grand Slams with the most significant victory of his career, because it changes the story: For the first time since February 2004, there will be a tennis player on the throne who is not named Federer, Nadal, Djokovic or Murray, famous members of the so-called Big Four. It will be Daniil Medvedev, who will be able to relax in Acapulco because the goal is achieved, whatever he does, and he is the 27th in history, third Russian after Marat Safin and Yevgeny Kafelnikov. And a curiosity, he is the tallest there has ever been, with his 198 centimeters tall. When the dethroned king was asked at a press conference about the change at the top, he was very brief: “Congratulations.”

Djokovic, a five-time tournament champion, had 361 weeks at the top of the rankings at different times. Now he had 79 in a row since he regained the place on August 24, 2020. But he ran into a tennis player in a state of grace who already knew how to beat him, because he had achieved it in the 2016 Monte Carlo Masters 1,000, on clay and in three sleeves (6-4, 2-6 and 6-4). At that time the Balkan was also number one. “He is one of the best ever, surely the best. Although I think that victory has not really helped me much this time. I’m excited. Tennis needs new leaders”, said the winner, having difficulty holding back tears due to what he has suffered in recent times, with a car accident and suffering from COVID. He is the third player who can boast of having faced Nole a minimum of twice without being defeated, after Kyrgios (2-0) and Safin (2-0). In the semifinals he will face Denis Shapovalov this Friday, who defeated Ricardas Berankis (7-6 (4) and 6-3).

Vesely showed that he is not only a magnificent server, but that he has many more resources, to begin with, a powerful and precise two-handed backhand that does not detract from that of the Balkan himself, and a remarkable variety of shots, especially groundstrokes. In addition, he showed a good hand near the net and had the mental strength to withstand the pressure that the Belgrade titan puts on his rivals.

A lot of personality

He showed it in both sleeves, when he was able to get ahead and then overcome his rival’s counter-breaks with apparent calm., good physical condition and mobility, despite the fact that he competes with a small ‘defect’ revealed by former Spanish tennis player Guillermo García López during the broadcast of #Vamos. Vesely’s right leg is more developed than his left and he wears different shoe sizes on each foot. The auction of his feat put him in the final tiebreaker, a luck in which he was sensational despite the fact that his opponent subtracted all the serves, although he also gave him a double fault. as icing, the dedication to Ukraine when signing on the lens of the television camera. It has been very expensive for Djokovic not to play the Australian Open due to his rejection of vaccination. And it will be difficult to recover the site unless he gives his arm to twist, something that apparently he will not do, at least for now.

Dubai ATP 500 results.