The ranking madness, episode 218: Andreescu without a single match in 2020 at the end of the year in seventh place
The ATP and WTA world rankings will likely remain frozen until the end of March 2021. This leads to quite astonishing excesses.
by tennisnet.com
last edit: Oct 26, 2020, 10:39 am
Novak Djokovic will replace Roger Federer next March as the player who has been number one in the ATP world rankings for most weeks. On the one hand, because the Serb was the dominant player in the first months of 2020, was only thrown a little off the spur by the faux pas of New York City (very little, as the subsequent tournament victory in Rome and the final in Roland Garros suggest ).
But also because Djokovic can go to the Australian Open 2020 completely safely, as far as his points account is concerned. At his kick-off press conference at the side of Dominic Thiem in Vienna, the industry leader announced en passant that the current point regulation should be continued until March. That means: Even in the unimaginable case that Novak Djokovic should lose in Melbourne in round one, he would receive 2,000 points for the ATP charts. Hands up, who still understands that.
The reason for the freezing may still have been correct for 2020 due to the special circumstances, especially at the US Open. However, it seems strange that the old regulation will not be reverted to at the beginning of next year.
Federer and Andreescu benefit
Speaking of which: Roger Federer will end the current year among the top ten players in the world, even though he only played one tournament, the Australian Open. Which is not a negligible factor when setting the first major of the coming season. At the moment Federer, who has not played a competitive match since his defeat by Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals of the Australian Open, is in fourth place.
The case of Bianca Andreescu is even more absurd: The injured Canadian, who defeated Serena Williams in the final of the US Open in New York City in 2019, will end the current season as number seven in the world. Without having played a single match. Should Andreescu report back to duty in Melbourne, she will still benefit from her points, for example from her success in Indian Wells 2019 and the US Open. For the sake of fairness, it should be noted: The counters for these two tournaments naturally remain in the rating for all other players. Unless they did better at the US Open 2020 than the year before.