Daniil Medvedev is very happy to have achieved his childhood dream of becoming the world number one.
Today the 26-year-old became the 27th male player to reach the summit of the game since the rankings introduction in 1973.
He is also the first person other than Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer or Andy Murray to be world No 1 since 2004.
The news was confirmed after the Serbian’s quarter-final loss to Jiri Vesely in Dubai last week, ending his two-year reign as the top ranked player.
Djokovic has amassed a total of 361 weeks at number one in his career, more than any other male player.
Medvedev, who reached the semi-finals of the Mexican Open in Acapulco last week, commented on the latest achievement in his impressive career so far.
"Of course I am happy to reach No 1," he said. "It was my goal since I was young and especially my goal in the latest times.
"I got a lot of messages from many people and from other tennis players and I just want to thank everybody for the big support."
The Russian has been on the rise since 2019, where he reached six consecutive finals, including his first slam final at the US Open, which he lost to Rafael Nadal in five sets.
He also won his first two Masters 1000 titles that year, before winning the ATP finals in 2020.
2021 proved to be his most successful year as he bagged four titles, one of which was his first grand slam title at the US Open.
Murray, who became world number one in 2016, was full of praise for Medvedev after reaching the pinnacle of the sport.
"Everyone’s been sort of waiting for the younger generation to start winning more of the major events and occupy the top spots in the rankings,” Murray recently told ATP Media. “Daniil definitely deserves it.”
Following his exit from the Dubai Open last week, Djokovic took to twitter to congratulate his rival.
"Congratulations also to a very deserving @DaniilMedwed, who will now become world number 1," he said.
