Daniil Medvedev advances in Dubai, suggests tennis ranking system rethink
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Russia's Daniil Medvedev during his round of 32 match against China's Shang Juncheng at the Dubai Open.
PHOTO: REUTERS
DUBAI – Daniil Medvedev beat Shang Juncheng on Feb 24 to reach the last 16 of the Dubai Open but implored tour organisers to limit ranking points to only the most prestigious tournaments to reduce player workload.
A week after beating the Chinese world No. 262 in Doha, the Russian again faced Shang and won 6-1, 6-3 in his opening match in the 500-level event in the UAE.
After the victory, Medvedev said he would like to see more mandatory events in the calendar, but for ranking points only to be attributed to Masters-level ones and Grand Slams in order to convince players to enter fewer of them.
“I would think the players would agree, from what I’m hearing, to making... even more mandatory tournaments,” the world No. 11 said. “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.”
The 2021 US Open winner said that the chase for points to climb the rankings and reach the ATP Finals – reserved for the top eight in the world – causes players to increase their workload, sometimes to the detriment of their bodies.
“What happens is last year, Holger (Rune) got injured in Stockholm (250 event)
Medvedev beat the retiring Swiss veteran Stan Wawrinka 6-2, 6-3 on Feb 25 and will face American Jenson Brooksby in the quarter-finals on Feb 26.
Elsewhere in Dubai, Greek former world No. 3 Stefanos Tsitsipas was eliminated 6-4, 7-5 by France’s Ugo Humbert.
In women’s tennis, Emma Raducanu insists she is in no rush to find a new coach as the former US Open champion looks to revert to a “more aggressive style of play”.
The British star has worked with several coaches in a relatively short career, with Francisco Roig the latest to leave the role after the Spaniard spent just six months working with her.
The 23-year-old was outspoken after a second-round loss to Anastasia Potapova at the Australian Open, saying she wanted to be playing “in a way more similar to when I was younger”.
In Raducanu’s next tournament in Romania, she reached her first final since the stunning US Open triumph in 2021 and she insisted she remains happy working with hitting partner Alexis Canter, a 27-year-old former British player who reached a career-high singles ranking of 773.
“Right now I wouldn’t say I’m actively looking for a coach,” she told The Guardian. “I have Alexis in my corner. He knows me as a person. He knows me as a player and I’ve actually had some success with him in the past year. So it’s going well.
“I know the drills that I need to be doing... just repetition of doing those key fundamentals. I think I want to go back to that and a more aggressive style of playing.” AFP
