Novak Djokovic won the Australian Open final because he was 'the better player': Daniil Medvedev

Daniil Medvedev suffered a straight-sets defeat at the hands of Novak Djokovic in the Australian Open final last week, and the Russian has been supremely complimentary towards Djokovic ever since. Speaking to the media ahead of his first match at the Rotterdam Open, Medvedev continued the trend by claiming the Serb was too good in the match.

"I, for sure, thought about it a little bit, actually discussed it more with my coach and my team," Medvedev said when asked if, in hindsight, he would have done anything different against Novak Djokovic. "But first of all, Novak played really good."

Not the match I wanted. All respect to @DjokerNole. Proud of my Aussie summer and can’t wait to be back next year🙏 #workinprogress @AustralianOpen #AustralianOpen2021 pic.twitter.com/lSaM7na2cq

— Daniil Medvedev (@DaniilMedwed) February 21, 2021

Daniil Medvedev was on a 20-match winning streak leading up to the final in Melbourne, which is why his one-sided loss was particularly surprising for the fans. The Russian acknowledged that too, saying there was 'no reason' for him to play badly in the match.

"It’s that type of match where you get off the court and you feel like you didn’t play well," Medvedev went on. "(But) there is no reason that I wouldn’t play well because I just won 20 matches playing well so there is no reason technically, why I won’t play well."

Despite showering lavish praise on Novak Djokovic, Daniil Medvedev did assert that he would employ different tactics if he were to come up against the Serb on the big stage again.

"He did everything good, he was playing good and I couldn't find my stance on the court," the 25-year-old added. "But I think if we played again I would do things differently in terms of tactics during the game. That’s tennis, it’s experience, but this match he won because he was the better player."

Novak Djokovic set to overtake Roger Federer for most weeks as World No. 1

Novak Djokovic

Novak Djokovic's record-extending ninth Australian Open title is not the only bit of history he will be making this year. The Serb is also all set to overtake Roger Federer for most weeks spent as World No. 1.

8 March 20221 will mark the start of Djokovic's 311th week at the No. 1 spot in the ATP rankings, which is more than any other men's player in history. Federer was the former record-holder at 310 weeks, and he was followed by Pete Sampras, Ivan Lendl, Jimmy Connors and Rafael Nadal in the list.

Most Weeks at No. 1 in @FedEx ATP Rankings1T @DjokerNole 3101T @RogerFederer 3103 Pete Sampras 2864 Ivan Lendl 2705 @JimmyConnors 2686 @RafaelNadal 2097 John McEnroe 1708 Bjorn Borg 1099 @AndreAgassi 10110 @LleytonHewitt 80

— ATP Media Info (@ATPMediaInfo) March 1, 2021

Novak Djokovic has previously claimed that the records for most weeks at World No. 1 and most Grand Slam titles are his biggest career goals. His win in Melbourne put him a step closer to both; Djokovic is now at 18 Slams, just two behind joint record-holders Federer and Nadal.