Mats Wilander: ‘Daniil Medvedev still has a long way to go before being considered the best player in the world’

It had been a long time since the world number one had raised so much debate. In 18 years of a reign shared between Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic, the No. 1 costume has, in a way, ended up widening. At different times in their careers, these four men have evolved to such a level that we had ended up forgetting that there was a nuance between the status of leader of the ATP rankings, and that of the best player in the world. With the one who ended that era, Daniil Medvedev, this little subtlety suddenly resurfaced.

“He is the best player… some daysspecifies the consultant Eurosport Mats Wilander, who also held the world No. 1 spot in 1988. His loss to Nadal in Acapulco showed that he wasn’t always. But in terms of regularity, he deserves to be there“Because if not unquestionably above the fray, the Russian at least had the merit of progressing, seizing opportunities and, above all, not dispersing.”He is the player we could have become that he would get there before others, younger than him, like Alexander Zverev or Stefanos Tsitsipas“, recalls the Swede.

At 26, and after winning his first major title at the US Open, the Muscovite still has room. “You can be #1 in different waysadds Wilander. To really stand out and be considered the best player in the world, he most likely needs to win a few more Grand Slams as No..” There too, the nuance is substantial: “To be in this position is to have a target on your back. Because for your opponent, beating the world No. 1 gives more momentum to victory.”

Both will still be the men to beat on their favorite surface, ahead of Medvedev. “This is one of the reasons why he cannot be considered the best player in the worldadds our consultant. Compare that to when Roger, Rafa or Novak were No. 1: they were all, at some point, favorites in every tournament they entered. Whether on clay, hard or grass. This is not the case with Daniil and it shows that he still has a long way to go before being considered as such..” But given his progress, the Russian may not have finished surprising us.