(March 14, 2022) INDIAN WELLS, California – Gael Monfils knocked off No. 1 Daniil Medvedev 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 on Monday at the BNP Paribas Open on Monday. The loss means that the Russian will fall to No. 2 in the rankings next week and Novak Djokovic will return to No.1

“It was not my best match, but Gael also played good and that’s how it is sometimes,” said Medvedev. .

“Is it better to be No. 1 for let’s say one week in your life or never touch it?” Medvedev said. “You know, I think it’s still better to at least touch it.

“So I’m going to try my best, on practice courts, on the matches, Grand Slams, Masters Series, to gain, to win as many tournaments and gain as many points and try to be world No. 1 for long time.

“If it doesn’t happen, well, again, I think it’s the same, you know, but the top 100, the top 10, some people stay there for long time, some people not. I think, yeah, to have this achievement in your career is definitely still a good thing.”

Rafael Nadal is now 17-0 on the year with her defeat of 27th seed Dan Evens 7-5, 6-3. It’s the Spaniard’s best career start of a season, the third best in the history of the Open Era.

Nadal will not be playing next week’s Masters event in Miami.

“I didn’t play Miami for the last couple of years,” Nadal said. “I have almost 36. I played much more than what I expected at the beginning of the season.

“For my body, is not good to have quick transitions from different surfaces, no? Clay to hard — well, hard to clay. If I play Miami, I will not have time to rest and not time to make a swift transition to the clay.

“I need to push since the beginning very hard, so that’s dangerous for my foot, for my knees. I need to make that transitions step by step. I cannot make drastic changes like I did in the past, so that’s why I decided to stop after here and to have, like, three weeks before the clay court season start for me.”