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Daniil Medvedev eyes top five return as clay season begins
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- Daniil Medvedev eyes top five return as clay season begins
Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images
Daniil Medvedev has had a strong start to the 2026 ATP season, picking up where he left off last year.
The Russian, who previously held the top spot in the rankings, started his campaign by taking home the Brisbane International title. A month later, he followed it up with another win at the Dubai Tennis Championships.
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Medvedev also had a good run in Indian Wells, beating world number one Carlos Alcaraz before falling short in the final. Although he lost to Francisco Cerundolo in Miami, the 30-year-old is now getting ready for clay-court season.
Medvedev is once again being mentioned as a Grand Slam threat, and the upcoming clay-court swing presents him with a real chance to build momentum.
Medvedev closing in on top five return
Photo by Rich Storry/Getty Images
Daniil Medvedev heads into the 2026 clay season with only 410 ranking points to defend, giving him a notable edge over many of his rivals.
Carlos Alcaraz is carrying much heavier pressure, defending 4,330 points after winning both Roland-Garros and Rome last year while also making the final in Monte Carlo.
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Within the ATP top 10, only Taylor Fritz and Felix Auger-Aliassime have fewer points to defend during this stretch.
Fritz is currently dealing with a knee injury that could keep him off clay entirely. Meanwhile, Auger-Aliassime has struggled for consistency lately.
While clay isn't Medvedev's strongest surface, he does have a solid track record. He reached the French Open quarter-finals in 2021 and won Rome in 2023.
He's also had multiple quarter-final runs in Madrid and made it to the Monte Carlo semi-finals back in 2019. Medvedev sits just 615 ATP points behind Lorenzo Musetti, who holds down fifth place but is set to defend 2,250 points during this swing — the second-most among any top-10 player.
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This gap gives Medvedev a real chance to climb back into the ATP's top five over the next few months if he can put together some strong results.
Medvedev's long road back to the ATP top five
Daniil Medvedev hasn't been inside the top five of the ATP rankings since mid-January 2025.
His form dipped sharply throughout that year, and by September he'd slipped all the way down to world number 18.
But after a strong start to 2026, he's climbed back up to number 10. A productive clay-court season could push him even higher.
The Monte Carlo draw comes out on Friday, and that'll be where his clay campaign begins.
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As a seed in Monte Carlo, Medvedev will skip the first round and start directly in the second.
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