Updated On: 16 March, 2021 08:01 AM IST | Paris | AFP
His 6-4, 6-7, 6-4 victory against Pierre-Hugues Herbert made him just the fifth player to occupy the number two spot in the 16 years since July 2005. “I am really happy. I knew that I would become No. 2 no matter what on Monday,” said Medvedev, the runner-up to Novak Djokovic at the Australian Open final last month.

Daniil Medvedev. Pic/AFP
Daniil Medvedev moved into second place in the ATP rankings on Monday, overtaking Rafael Nadal. The Russian was elevated to second thanks to his win in the final of the Marseille tournament on Sunday.
His 6-4, 6-7, 6-4 victory against Pierre-Hugues Herbert made him just the fifth player to occupy the number two spot in the 16 years since July 2005. “I am really happy. I knew that I would become No. 2 no matter what on Monday,” said Medvedev, the runner-up to Novak Djokovic at the Australian Open final last month.
“It is always better when you step up the rankings when you do something great,” he added. Apart from Djokovic and Nadal, only Roger Federer and Andy Murray have held the position in that time. Djokovic last week broke Federer’s record for the number of weeks spent in the top spot.