2020/2021 ATP Rankings & Rules

In answer to Striker, Roger was actually defending 1200 points at Wimbledon (his Final from 2019) and made 360 points by reaching the QF this year.

However, with the special Covid-19 rules still in effect, Roger is able to keep half of his 2019 points until 2022 and, therefore, lost only 600 ranking points (still a big chunk, mind you!). He would have maintained his No 8 ranking had it not been for Berrettini, who gained 1020 points by reaching the Final at Wimbledon and thus moved ahead of Roger. Roger is now No 9 in the Rankings, 590 points ahead of Shapovalo who move to No 10 (+2) after his good SF result last week.

But Roger made great progess in the RACE: With 630 points, he jumped from #90 to #41! Still, it's somewhat of a bridge too far for the Nitto Finals!

Talking about the RACE, Djokovic has now qualified for the Nitto Finals, He has 7170 points!  Next, is Tsitsipas with 4570 points, and then Berrettini in third place. Who would have to thought of that!  

I think I'm right that Roger's vanquisher at Wim, Hurkacz, is at No. 10? No mean opponent, Hurkacz!! A top 10 player. 

Not much point in worrying what ND has in points. It doesn't guarantee he will win the WTF. Stef and Sascha have both won WTF and this year if could be Daniil for all we know.

Yes, Hurkacz went from No 18 to No 11 after Wimbledon, up 7 spots. A impressive move, I should say!  

And he is #8 in the RACE now (up 3).

Just noticed this:

https://www.atptour.com/en/news/fedex-atp-rankings-methodology-returns-to-normal


I don't quite see from what's written in the article whether Roger's ranking will fall from the current rank 9 to just a bit lower since he won't be playing Toronto and Cincy or whether he will drop to his ranking in the Race to WTF which is only this year's match points, and he is at rank 48.

If the latter, surely that will be disastrous for USO, as he could be drawn to play eg ND in first round?

If the rank of 43 should occur ROGER WOULD CHOOSE NOT TO PLAY!! OH MY! I think Rogers lowest rank was 18 when to went on to win AO!!

A low ranking would not be welcome.

Well, lots of players have had long periods out for injury or other reasons - Murray, Delpo, Rublev immediately come to mind - and indeed their ranking drops drastically after a period. It must be really galling for any "top player" after a period out to find they aren't seeded even for a  major. 

A lot of players have more or less the same number of Race points as Roger, and if he should be able to play well at USO, is seeded and can get another qf or even better, semi, this would make a notable difference to his Race ranking. 

Roger has 630 Race points. If he makes the qf but is beaten then, he would win 360 points. Given that other players will lose or gain points and Roger has no points to defend, he could even rise as high as 26, or if making the semis, he would rise to 1350 points, as much as rank 16 which is around where he was when he returned in 2017. 

If making the final!!! another 480 points, up to 1830, at best rank 10! If winning the USO, I guess he might make the WTF no matter what anyone else achieves.

Nice thoughts. So now we can but wait and see how Roger is feeling and how he fares at the USO. 

But also, since I can't work out just what the ATP are saying about their changes to the system that are coming up. I don't know where Roger would end up in the running annual total. Will the Race totals at the end of 2021 be the points as they start out 2022? Or is that still adjusted somehow due to Covid? 

I'm not sure also how Protected ranking works though I see PR players in draws now and again. Would Roger qualify for Protected Ranking in respect of his USO draw and be seeded mo matter what the points system does?

Protracted Ranking allows players to enter tournaments that they would not be able to (because of injury) based on their current low ranking.  It does not help seedings.  Roger would not need a PR for the USO and his seeding would be based on his current rank. 

Roger and Rafa did not have to play with protected rankings for the 2017 AO because they were still ranked high enough to enter directly.  BUT they were seeded according to their current rankings - why Roger was seeded 17.  Let's say Roger does not play for the rest of the year.  If he were to enter the 2022 AO, he would probably need a protected ranking but he would not be seeded.

Thanks for this info, Steerpike...

Rosaline wrote:Just noticed this:

https://www.atptour.com/en/news/fedex-atp-rankings-methodology-returns-to-normal


I don't quite see from what's written in the article whether Roger's ranking will fall from the current rank 9 to just a bit lower since he won't be playing Toronto and Cincy or whether he will drop to his ranking in the Race to WTF which is only this year's match points, and he is at rank 48.

If the latter, surely that will be disastrous for USO, as he could be drawn to play eg ND in first round?

The RACE is only used for the ATP Finals qualifications and has no bearing on the Rankings. In normal years, the Rankings and RACE points would end up being the same at the end of the year. But, these are not normal times!...

As the special Covid-19 rules (ending next week) allowed players to carry previously earned points for an extended 52 weeks until 2022 (some at 50% only), for most players their Ranking points will be quite a bit higher than their RACE points. This is certainly the case for Roger, who hasn't played much this year, but is still carrying points from the 2019/2020 season into 2022.  

The retun to normal rules, effective next week, means that from then on, all points previously earned (points to defend) will drop when the tournament is played, starting with Cincinnati.

Roger doesn't have that many points to defend in this latter part of the season: he will lose only 90 points for Cincinnati (0 for Toronto), so his ranking for the US Open shouldn't change much - he may drop a couple of spots, depending on what Shapovalov and Ruud can achieve at those two Masters. Then he has 360 points to defend at the US Open, 180 for Shanghai and 500 for Basel, which is the biggest chunk, along with the 400 points he will lose for the ATP Finals, since he won't be there to defend them (unless a miracle happen!)

It's hard to forecast what Roger's ranking will be at the end of the year; it obviously will depend on his playing schedule over the next few months. But, as an example, if he didn't play for the rest of the season, he would end the year with 2684 points. Looking at the current rankings, that would put him around # 16. Not so bad, he has been there before!

^^^

Since Basel is not being played this year, will previous points still drop?

The answer is Yes, Steerpike60. Starting next week, all points will drop according to their drop date, which is usually at the end of tournament in question, even if that tournament has been cancelled. Tough!

However, players have usually the option to enter in another 'replacement' tournament, like in the case of Basel, Vienna and St. Pertersburg (upgraded to 500 status) are available on the same dates.

I guess they have to draw the line, at some point, and put an end to all those Covid-19 accommodations if they want to return to the standard Ranking system and not drag it out for another year.

Why isnt Novak losing points for NOT defending Cincy?? Thank you!!!

Cincy points will be coming off next week. Djoko will lose 1000 points when the new rankings come out on the 23rd.

I’m not sure which rankings Roger, Rafa, and Dominic are going to be on, could you tell me? The Race does not correspond to reality again.

RACE to the Nitto ATP Finals

Tsitsipas joins Djokovic in qualifying for the ATP Finals. With Nadal out for the rest of the season, the other qualifiers, as it stands now, would be Medvedev, Zverev, Rublev, Berrettini, Ruud and Hurkacz, but there are still many points to play for and several other players in contention!

Sinner is next in line and he is still playing at the US Open, whereas Hurkacz and Ruud have already lost.