Dominic Thiem flies out of the top 50 - protected ranking is becoming more and more important
As of today, Dominic Thiem is only ranked 52 in the world. No wonder: The Lichtenwörther has been out of action since last summer. What does this mean for the upcoming tournaments?
by Florian Goosmann
last edit: Feb 21, 2022, 05:20 pm
Actually, Dominic Thiem would have wanted to be right in the middle of the action again: The South America tour was firmly planned after Australia's end, but in Cordoba Thiem had to give w/o before his first game: The wrist was okay, it was said, but one Injury to the hand itself had occurred.
Thiem announced his comeback for Indian Wells at the earliest (from March 10). He won there in 2019. The Miami Open would then follow, followed by the important clay court tour.
Since Thiem has been on the tour without a game since June 2021, it is only logical that there is an increasing impact on his ranking. Especially since the 28-year-old had only a few good results at the beginning of last season and sat out for a long time.
Thiem was last listed outside the top 50 on March 23, 2015, curiously also in 52nd place.
Dominic Thiem: How does the protected ranking work?
It's good for Thiem that there is a protected ranking. But how exactly does a tournament start with this?
A player can apply for a protected ranking if he has not started a tournament for at least six months. The exact ranking is calculated from the average of the world ranking position in the first three months of the injury. Means for Thiem: 6th place.
#IMG2#
Thiem has nine tournaments available
Thiem can therefore use it for his first nine tournaments or for the first nine months after returning (depending on what is achieved first). Should he receive wildcards or get into a tournament with the "real" ranking, he can save himself a participation with the protected ranking.
Important: The protected ranking has no effect on the seeding list. Means: Thiem could already meet top players in the early rounds.
Another case that hopefully will not be necessary for Dominic Thiem: If he is on the tour for at least twelve months without a game, the number of tournaments would increase to twelve months via the protected ranking or the corresponding time.