Even with loss to Jiri Vesely, Novak Djokovic attains new milestone at Dubai Tennis Championships

Novak Djokovic achieved a new career milestone at the Dubai Tennis Championships this week despite suffering a shock quarter-final loss to Jiri Vesely.

The Serb has reached the quarterfinals or better in 24 out of 25 ATP 500 events since 2009, when the category was formed. He achieved the milestone after defeating Karen Khachanov in straight sets in the last 16.

Moreover, the Serb also reached the quarterfinals in all 12 of his appearances in Dubai. He has won the tournament five times and is the second most successful player in the history of the competition after Roger Federer, who has eight titles to his name.

Djokovic's only defeat before the quarterfinals of an ATP 500 event was at the Barcelona Open in 2018, when he lost to Martin Klizan. The Serb was knocked out in the second round of the tournament after suffering a three-set defeat to the then World No. 140.

If tournaments before 2009 are taken into consideration, Djokovic has reached the quarterfinals or better in 29 out of the 32 events that he has featured in.

Daniil Medvedev to dethrone Novak Djokovic from the World No. 1 spot

Novak Djokovic and Daniil Medvedev at the US Open 2021

Daniil Medvedev will be crowned the new World No. 1 next Monday following Djokovic's loss to Vesely in Dubai. The Russian will become the 27th player to climb to the top position in the ATP rankings.

Interestingly, he will be the first player outside the Big 4, consisting of Andy Murray, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Djokovic, to reach the top spot in 18 years. The last player outside the Big 4 to be ranked No. 1 was Andy Roddick way back in 2004.

Having bagged the No. 1 ranking, Medvedev will look take home the title in Acapulco this week. The Russian will face Rafael Nadal in the semifinals on Friday.