Just
before the French Open in May/June, Rafael Nadal was ranked No 4, based mainly on
the strength of his breathtaking return to tennis after a seven-month injury
lay-off. He was seeded 4 for the 2nd major of the year in Paris, ahead
of World No 5 David Ferrer. As expected, he won the tournament with a dominant
6-3 6-2 6-3 victory over fellow Spaniard David Ferrer. It therefore came as a
surprise when the following day, Rafael Nadal dropped to No 5 and was replaced
by the man he defeated the previous day, David Ferrer in the World Number 4 position.
So
what happened?
The
current tennis ranking system calculates how many points a player earns over a rolling
12-month period. Rankings are updated weekly throughout the year, except when a
grand slam is underway they are updated after the tournament. How does it work?
I’ll give a very short explanation using
a few examples from the US Open 2013. First, let me start by giving a summary
of how many points are awarded for the tournaments.
ATP (Men’s
Tennis)
Tournament
level
|
Winner
|
Finalist
|
Semi
Final
|
Quarter
Final
|
Round
of 16
|
Grand
slams
|
2000
|
1200
|
720
|
360
|
180
|
Masters
1000
|
1000
|
600
|
360
|
180
|
90
|
ATP
500
|
500
|
300
|
180
|
90
|
45
|
ATP
250
|
250
|
150
|
90
|
45
|
|
Barclays
ATP Tour finals
|
1500
(undefeated champion)
|
500
(final
win)
|
400
(semi
final win)
|
200
(round robin win per match)
|
|
Note:
1.
Points
are also earned for Davis Cup and Olympic wins. As a general rule, The Top 30
players (based on previous year's year-end ranking) must play a minimum of four
ATP 500 level tournaments during
the calendar year, including at least one event following the US Open.2. To qualify for the year-ending Barclays ATP Tour finals, the points earned in the preceding 12 months will be used.
WTA (Women’s Tennis)
Tournament
level
|
Winner
|
Finalist
|
Semi
Final
|
Quarter
Final
|
Round
of 16
|
Grand
slams
|
2000
|
1400
|
900
|
500
|
280
|
Masters
1000
|
1000
|
700
|
450
|
250
|
140
|
Premier
900
|
900
|
620
|
395
|
225
|
125
|
Premier
470
|
470
|
320
|
200
|
120
|
60
|
Wta
Championships – Istanbul
|
1500
(undefeated champion)
|
360
(final win)
|
460
(semi final win)
|
230
for each round robin match won, 70 for each round robin match lost
|
|
Now let’s
consider the US Open 2013 and the top 3 male players
Player
|
Pre-US Open 2013 Points
|
2012 US Open results
|
Scenario
|
Novak Djokovic
|
10980
|
Finalist
|
- If he wins, he’ll add 800
points
- If he finishes runner up, he’ll
not add any point
- If he doesn’t make the final,
he’ll lose points
|
Rafael Nadal
|
8860
|
Absent
|
Any point he wins adds to his existing points because he didn’t win any
point from last year.
|
Andy Murray
|
8700
|
Winner
|
- If he wins, he’ll not add any
point
- If he doesn’t win, he’ll lose
points
|
Let me explain.
When coming
into this year’s US Open, every point won by a player in last year’s US Open
automatically gets deducted from his total points because it doesn’t form part
of the new rolling 12-month period. He will have to earn those points all over
again.
Consider
Murray. He had 8700 points pre-US Open 2013. Because he won the 2012 event, he
immediately loses the 2000 points this year. And since he was knocked out in
the quarter final stage, he wins only 360 points. His total points post-USOpen
2013 therefore will be (8700-2000+360) = 7060
Ditto
Djokovic. He had 10980 points pre-US Open
2013. Because he finished as runner-up 2012 event, he immediately loses 1200
points this year. Because he finished runner-up again this year, his total points post-US Open
2013 therefore will be (10980-1200+1200) = 10980.
For Nadal,
there were no points to lose, so all the 2000 points he won in winning this year’s US Open
event will count towards his total points. Hence his new points total post-US Open 2013 will be (8860+2000)= 10860, just behind Djokovic.
In fact, because he was out injured between July 2012 - January 2013, every point he wins until end of January 2014 will add to his ranking points. In tennis parlance, he’s said to “have no point to defend”. This is also why he’s likely to finish the year as World Number One (Novak Djokovic has to defend the 3,000 points he won in London, Shanghai and Dubai before the end of the year).
In fact, because he was out injured between July 2012 - January 2013, every point he wins until end of January 2014 will add to his ranking points. In tennis parlance, he’s said to “have no point to defend”. This is also why he’s likely to finish the year as World Number One (Novak Djokovic has to defend the 3,000 points he won in London, Shanghai and Dubai before the end of the year).
For the
Women, there was no change in either ranking points or position in the Top 2
because they (Serena Williams and Victoria Azarenka) finished the same way they
did last year. But the general rules are the same.
The tennis
ranking system is designed to recognise the current form of players and to
discourage top players from missing tournaments. A player is prevented from
earning points from the same event two years in a row unless he/she performs
better than the previous year. In my opinion, it’s the fairest system that the
tennis bodies could have come up with, despite the pockets of criticism. At least
it is very easy to calculate, unlike the FIFA and UEFA Ranking Systems that no
one seems able to interpret with relative certainty.
Note:
This post
has been updated to take account of the result of the US Open Men’s final, won by
Rafael Nadal.You can follow me via @mcgboye
