The Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) – the official governing body of men’s professional tennis – has decided to strip Wimbledon 2022 of ranking points. The Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) soon followed suit, as did the International Tennis Federation (ITF), announcing that they will not be awarding points for the juniors and wheelchair events.
The announcement came in the wake of Wimbledon’s ban on players from Russia and Belarus following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The All England Club’s decision was met with condemnation from the likes of Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal.
World No. 2 and 2021 US Open champion Daniil Medvedev, and World No. 7 Andrey Rublev will be left out of the men’s draw. Big names like World No. 7 and 2021 Wimbledon semifinalist Aryna Sabalenka and two-time Grand Slam champion Victoria Azarenka will also be left out of the women’s section.
It remains to be seen how the move will affect the main draws at SW19 this year. Four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka has already said that she may not play, saying the oldest Grand Slam tournament “is more like an exhibition” without ranking points, as per The Guardian.
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Given what it continues to offer in terms of both prestige and prize money, the draw may well remain stacked. World No. 1 Novak Djokovic has already confirmed he will defend his title.
Djokovic has been one of the more vocal critics of Wimbledon’s decision. Speaking after his first-round victory at the French Open, the Serb praised the ATP and the players for getting together and showing a Grand Slam event that there are consequences to a “mistake” they may make. The 20-time Major champion added that it is a “lose-lose” situation for everyone.
How do the rankings work?
Simply put, ranking points are the most valuable currency in professional tennis. Each weekly list of rankings represents the total points awarded to players over the last 52 weeks. Following the conclusion of each tournament, players are awarded ranking points they win at the event, and drop the points they won at the same event the previous year.
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A high ranking offers a number of privileges on tour. The 32 highest-ranked players are given seedings ahead of a Grand Slam, thereby guaranteeing they will not be playing each other for the first two matches. At some non-Slam events, higher-ranked players are awarded byes in the first round.
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Both men’s and women’s Grand Slam events award 2000 ranking points to the winner. The runner-up of the men’s event receives 1200 points and the women’s event receives 1300. Semifinalists receive 720 and 780 points respectively.
The eight players that earn the most points in a calendar year participate in the year-end ATP and WTA tour finals, which award points for each win and a total of 2000 ranking points for the title.
Novak Djokovic sits at the top of the men’s rankings with 8,660 points at the moment, while Iga Swiatek leads the WTA rankings with 7,061 points.
How will Wimbledon affect the rankings?
Players at Wimbledon this year will not only not have the opportunity to win points this year, but will also be dropping points from last year. No matter what the outcome, Djokovic, who has no points to gain as the defending champion, will be dropping 2000 points.
The move works in favour of the likes of Medvedev, who is only defending 360 points from his quarterfinal finish at SW19 last year, and Nadal, who missed the event last year due to injury. Medvedev is confirmed to usurp the top spot in the ATP rankings from Djokovic on July 11.
A hand injury has kept last year’s finalist Matteo Berrettini out of action throughout the clay season. The Italian has timed his comeback on tour to play a full grass season, but the loss of points from Wimbledon could force him to fall as low as 15th in the rankings. Denis Shapovalov – reeling from his first-round loss to Holger Rune at the French Open – will also take a major hit.
While 2021 champion Ash Barty may have retired, the Wimbledon point freeze will impact the top of the women’s rankings as well. Last year’s finalist and World No. 8 Karolina Pliskova risks falling out of the top 20, as things stand. Belarus’ Sabalenka has already dropped to seventh in the rankings after a lacklustre clay season, and will lose another 780 points.
