ATP Rankings ‘Solution’

The ATP, after months of silence, has finally released its solution to the world rankings problem, as we draw closer to a return (pandemic allowing) to professional tournament tennis.

Before the suspension of everything, including freezing the rankings - pre Indian Wells in March - the rankings total for ATP players aggregated the best 18 points performances over the most recent 52 week period.

The top players, by virtue of their ranking, would gain automatic entry to the four Grand Slam tournaments and nine Masters 1000 events. Accordingly, points gained from these would be required in the ‘best 18’, irrespective of whether the player chose to contest the tournament or not.

Lower ranked players would be subject to the same rules, but only to whichever of the GS or Masters 1000 events they automatically gained entry.

Now, the best 18 concept remains, but the period has changed.  It will cover the 22 month period March 2019 - December 2020.

For the rest of this year, no player will lose any of his current ranking points, but he may improve his position.

Example: Roland Garros

2019 points are currently included in all relevant players’ frozen rankings, but the tournament is scheduled to be contested again in September this year.

Players will now include the better of his 2020 or 2019 result in the ‘best 18’ total.

This is so for any same Tour-level tournament, if played in 2020 once tennis resumes in August.

Rafa Nadal, could retain his RG title this year, lose in the first round, or skip the event altogether, and his ranking points will be unaffected. His 2000 points from 2019 cannot be improved.

Novak Djokovic made the 2019 semi finals, gaining 720 points, and so has the potential to improve his position. By making this years final, he would gain an extra 480 points; a win would give him 2000 points and a net increase of 1280 points.

Any tournaments played in 2020 will count for 52 weeks or until that event is played again in 2021, whichever comes first.

One should expect Roland Garros to be scheduled in May / June 2021.

The events that were played in January - March this year, and are counted in rankings, will be replaced as per normal in 2021.

So, a player could feasibly have a rankings breakdown for a fair chunk of next year which includes points from Australian Open 2021, Roland Garros 2020, Wimbledon 2019 and US Open 2019.

COVID-19 Tennis in Atlanta

Many from the tennis world, conspicuously led by loud American voices, hammered Novak Djokovic for insufficiently considering the COVID-19 pandemic and taking inadequate precautions when organising the recent Adria Tour.

Some players, including Djokovic, tested positive for the virus, meaning that lessons would be learned the hard way - or so we assumed.

The All-American Team Cup, an exhibition tournament, was scheduled to be held in Atlanta, Georgia, featuring the first matches in front of a US crowd since the pandemic had shut down the pro tours. The 8 man event had been thrown in doubt due to a dramatically worsening COVID climate in the USA, but it proceeded anyway.

Frances Tiafoe, tested after playing Sam Querrey, was found to be COVID-19 positive, subsequently is in quarantine and out of the event.

Frances had been tested negative just before the event where he had been training for two months - in Florida, a COVID hotbed, so no great surprise that he could have ultimately picked it up.

Oh well, nice try, tournament over of course. 

But no, the dimwitted organisers, led by Eddie Gonzalez (Event Director) just throw in a substitute, and the event continues. All the protocols are in place and safety concerns are covered - that’s the message.  Well, if I was Sam Querrey, having been on court with a virus infected Tiafoe, I’d be out of Atlanta in a flash.

And similarly any other person associated with the tournament - go home, have a test. 

An 8 man meaningless exhibition event, placing so many people at health risk, is badly timed, dumb, selfish and hypocritical, and sends the credibility of staging the US Open next month further down the gurgler.

Adria Tour was lesson #1, All-American Cup is lesson #2, but the students aren’t listening.