The ATP ranking crowns the Russian, the Race smiles at the Spaniard, the true leader of this early season. A string of victories unthinkable until a few weeks ago, during which the Spaniard was preparing to return to racing after his injury
On the day of the coronation of Daniil Medvedev, 27th king in the history of the ATP, the real number 1 at the beginning of the season can only be 35-year-old Rafael Nadal, champion on January 9 in the Melbourne tournament on Maxime Cressy, who triumphed on the 30th. January at the Australian Open after an epic final of five sets won on Medvedev and yesterday winner of the Acapulco tournament, with the success on Cameron Norrie. A row that was unthinkable until a few weeks ago, during which the Spaniard was preparing to return to the races after the injury that had kept him away from the fields since last August when he was beaten by Lloyd Harris in Washington.
What numbers
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Since then Rafa has played 15 matches, winning all of them with a balance of 37 sets won and 6 sold: one to Khachanov, one to Berrettini, two to Shapovalov and two to Medvedev. Never in the past had Nadal managed to win the first 15 matches of the season. Rafa has achieved these 15 wins by beating 3 top 10 and 7 top 50. In the past Rafa had stopped at 11 in 2014 when he won Doha and lost in the final in Melbourne to Wawrinka. The ATP ranking has always expressed the performance of a tennis player over the previous 52 weeks (even more during Covid) and for this reason Medvedev is legitimately the number 1 in the world with just 150 points ahead of Novak Djokovic. Rafa rises to fourth place at 2100 points behind the Russian. But in the race Nadal is by far the fittest and most successful of the moment. The Spaniard already has 2,750 points on the farm, over a thousand more than Medvedev who is second with 1,675 points. Third is Felix Auger-Aliassime with 1,400, fourth Tsitsipas and fifth Rublev. Rafael Nadal’s fifteen consecutive early-season successes suggest we dig out this particular record to discover that the best starting five streak of the Open Era belong to John McEnroe, Novak Djokovic, Bjorn Borg and Ivan Lendl.
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John McEnroe’s record early victories in 1984. The American won 3 games in the Masters, then 5 in Philadelphia, 4 in Richmond, 2 in the Davis Cup, 5 in Madrid, 5 in Brussels, 3 in Dallas, 5 in Forest Hills , 4 in the Nations Cup in Dusseldorf and 6 at Roland Garros. On 10 June 1984, six months after his last defeat against Wilander in the semifinal of the Australian Open in December 1983, McEnroe lost in five sets to Ivan Lendl, after having led by first two sets and then a break in the fourth set (4-3 ball of 5-3, and then 4 equal break ball to serve for the match).
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Novak Djokovic’s initial victories centered in 2011. The Serbian won 7 games at the Australian Open, 5 in Dubai, 6 in Indian Wells, 6 in Miami, 3 in Belgrade, 5 in Madrid, 5 in Rome and 4 at Roland Garros. On June 3, 2011, five and a half months after the defeat against Federer in the semi-final of the ATP Finals of the previous November, Djokovic lost in four sets to Roger Federer in the semi-final at Roland Garros at the end of a spectacular match.
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Bjorn Borg’s initial victories in 1980. The Swede won 5 games at the Madison Square Garden Masters, then 2 at the Pepsi Grand Slam Cup, 6 in Salisbury, 5 in Nice, 5 in Monte Carlo, 5 in Las Vegas and 3 in Nations Cup in Dusseldorf. On May 10, 1980, eight months after his last defeat in September 1979 in the quarterfinals of the United States Open against Roscoe Tanner, Borg lost in the semifinals to Guillermo Vilas by 6-3 1-6 6-1. That defeat came after 48 consecutive wins representing the second longest streak of the Open era after the 49 that Borg himself had hit during 1978.
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Ivan Lendl’s initial victories in 1986. The Czech won 4 games at the New York Masters, 4 in Philadelphia, 7 in Boca West (the then home of the Masters 1000 in Miami), 5 in Milan, 5 in Fort Myers and 4 in Chicago. On March 30, 1986, Lendl was defeated by Boris Becker 7-6 6-3 in the Chicago final.
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The initial victories of Novak Djokovic obtained in 2020. The Serbian won 6 games at the ATP Cup, 7 at the Australian Open, 5 in Dubai, 5 in Cincinnati and 3 at the United States Open. On 6 September 2020, almost 10 months after the defeat against Federer in the round robin of the 2019 ATP Finals, Djokovic was disqualified in the round of 16 of the United States Open for hitting a line judge with a ball during the eighth-final against Pablo Carreno Busta.
February 28 – 08:34
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