Daniil Medvedev defeated Shang Juncheng to advance in the Dubai Tennis Championships. His post-match interview on Tuesday was more about the rankings system than the match itself. The former US Open champion essentially requested that the ATP reserve ranking points for only the most prestigious tournaments.
To make this work, Medvedev is open to increasing the number of mandatory tournaments, but he wants the tour to reserve ranking points only for Masters-level and Grand Slam events.
“I would think the players would agree, from what I’m hearing, to making… even more mandatory tournaments,” the 11th-ranked Russian told reporters. “I would say make four Grand Slams, I don’t know, 11 Masters, and that’s it. The other tournaments (500- and 250-level events), maybe make them without points or something.”
According to Medvedev, this, in turn, will allow players to participate in only select ATP 250, 500 events based on how their body is reacting to the demanding schedule, rather than forcing themselves out just to make sure they have better rankings.
“What happens is last year, Holger (Rune) got injured in Stockholm (250 event), everybody was like, ‘Yeah, but you don’t have to play it’. If he wants to be in Turin (for the ATP Finals), he has to, even if it’s not a mandatory tournament,” Medvedev said. “Last year, I played in seven tournaments in a row. Did I have to? No. I played bad in the beginning of the year, maybe I can get 100 points here, 200 points here, be higher seeded next year. If there would be no points there, at least it is an easier decision. But it’s not going to happen.”
Daniil Medvedev To Next Face Former Grand Slam Champion in Dubai
After reaching the last 16, Daniil Medvedev has set himself up for the encounter against 40-year old Stanislas Wawrinka. The Swiss legend defeated Benjamin Hassan 7-5, 6-3 to set up the date with the Russian, who is seeded third in the tournament.
Wawrinka, who won three Grand Slams in the era dominated by the Big Three of Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal, has already said that the 2026 season will be his last in tennis.
After early exits in Rotterdam and Qatar, Medvedev is hoping to go deep in Dubai, but he will have to overcome the Swiss challenge in his next match.
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