"Carlos Alcaraz is deservedly World No. 1" - Daniil Medvedev reflects on the absence of Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal at Indian Wells

Daniil Medvedev asserted that Carlos Alcaraz is "deservedly" the new World No. 1 after losing the Indian Wells Masters final to the Spaniard while responding to a query as to the significance of the rankings in the absence of Novak Djokovic.

Alcaraz dominated the title-round encounter right from the outset, winning 6-3, 6-2 to reclaim his position at the top of the men's rankings after having slipped to No. 2 following Djokovic's victory at the Australian Open.

The Serb, however, was not allowed to enter the United States on account of his vaccination status and thus missed the Indian Wells tournament.

"Carlos is deservedly World No. 1. He has won more points than everybody else in last 52 weeks, and that's how rankings work. Yeah, he was also year-end No. 1 last year, so that's something I haven't done, so I'll try, for sure, in my career. Yeah," the Russian said during the post-match press conference.

Before stating his position with regards to Novak Djokovic, Medvedev chose to use Rafael Nadal's injury as an example to stress the fact that one should not attempt to be hypothetical with regard to the rankings.

"But it is what it is, you know. If you get injured, I don't know, Rafa is injured for some time. We also can say, well, if Rafa would not be injured he would be No. 1. Well, we cannot know because he's injured."

"Same about Novak. For sure if he would be able to play last year and this year all the tournaments, there is a possibility that the rankings would be different. But... But, there shouldn't be no "buts," Daniil Medvedev explained.

"I'm feeling great right now at this part of the season" - Daniil Medvedev

Medvedev and Alcaraz during the post-match handshake

When asked if his recent performances gave him confidence ahead of the clay season, Daniil Medvedev admitted that while sliding on clay was not easy for him, he was feeling great at this point during the year.

The World No. 6, who was on a 19-match unbeaten run prior to being outplayed by Carlos Alcaraz in the Indian Wells final, stated he was looking forward to playing on the slow courts of Miami before embarking on the clay court swing.

"Sliding is a little bit something that's not easy for me on clay courts. But I made some good results in the past on clay courts in some big tournaments. I'm feeling great right now at this part of the season, mentally, physically, honestly, in my tennis."

"So I'm looking forward, for sure, for clay season but first I want to try to do well in Miami where it's still hard courts even if maybe it will be very slow," the 2021 US Open champion asserted.

Daniil Medvedev lost to Hubert Hurkacz in the quarterfinals on the hard courts of Miami last year before going down to Marin Cilic in the fourth round on the red dirt at Roland Garros.