Tatjana Maria, Novak Djokovic, Nick Kyrgios: Wimbledon 2022 and the ranking thing
The 2022 Wimbledon tournament was a memorable one - in many ways. The fact that there are no points for the world rankings is particularly bitter for some players.
by Florian Goosmann from Wimbledon
last edit: Jul 09, 2022, 11:41 am
When the All England Club announced that Russian and Belarusian players were not allowed to take part in the 2022 Wimbledon tournament because of Russia's war of aggression in Ukraine, the question quickly arose: Can points for the world rankings be awarded at all?
The ATP and WTA decided: no. "The opportunity for players of any nationality to participate in tournaments based on their merits and without discrimination is fundamental to our tour," ATP said in a statement. "Wimbledon's decision to ban Russian and Belarusian players this summer undermines that principle and the integrity of the ATP ranking system." You want to prevent a precedent. The WTA quickly followed suit.
The points from the previous year are gone, there were no new points to be won - which is particularly bitter for the players who had done well in 2021 (and are now slipping) or made a fine run in 2022 (and not climb up).
Novak Djokovic slips - no matter if he wins
Novak Djokovic, for example: he will lose 2,000 points (even if he should win the final again), Djokovic will only be listed in 7th place in the ATP ranking from Monday. Cristian Garin is also a case in point: he was in the quarterfinals this year (last year only in the round of 16), but he will still lose 13 places.
And Nick Kyrgios, currently world number 45? Would normally slip into the top 20 if he made it to the finals.
Tatjana Maria: "Only" top 100 instead of top 40
The whole thing is also bitter for Tatjana Maria: she only returned from her baby break last summer and is currently listed in 103rd place. Although she will move back into the top 100 (she does not lose points, some players before her do). In a "regular" Wimbledon tournament with points, however, she would probably have moved into the top 40 - higher than ever.
Also bitter for the 34-year-old: With such a good world ranking, Maria would have automatically been in the main field at the big tournaments for the coming months - a fine thing financially and with the chance of even more points. Especially since she hardly has any points to defend until the end of the year. A move into the top 30 or even the top 20? would have been possible.
So everything stays the same, as Maria accepted with a smile after her semi-final defeat. After all, she takes around 620,000 euros with her from London. And sees the positive side of the small climb: "I'll be in the top 100 for the first time with my two kids." And she saw that she can beat the really good players. "This way I can continue to improve my ranking."
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