Daniil Medvedev entered the Miami Open with a huge opportunity ahead of him in the ATP Tour rankings. Medvedev, the number-one seeded player at the tournament, coasted through his first three matchups, winning each in straight sets. However, the Russian star was bested in the quarterfinals against Hubert Hurkacz, the eight seed. Medvedev's loss was undoubtedly disappointing as it was a chance for him to win a tournament that didn't include two of his primary rivals, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal. However, the Miami Open upset loss was also a setback in Medvedev's pursuit of Djokovic, as reported by ESPN.

Had Medvedev prevailed Thursday in the quarterfinal match, the Russian would have overtaken Novak Djokovic on Monday and returned to No. 1 in the world rankings.

As noted by ESPN, if Medvedev had emerged victorious in the Miami Open quarterfinal, he would have overtaken Djokovic for the title of world no. 1. The Russian tennis star had wrested control of the number-one ranking back in February, ultimately losing it after a subpar performance at Indian Wells.

That makes his Miami Open loss all the more disappointing. It's been a season of what-ifs for Medvedev so far, as he raced out to a 2-sets-to-none lead over Nadal in the Australian Open final, only to watch as the Spaniard roared back for the title.

With the clay court season around the corner, Daniil Medvedev will have to head back to the drawing board in his pursuit of world no. 1 Novak Djokovic.