2020 ATP Calendar & COVID-19 Impact

^^^^ so far. I think it will be cancelled.

Some encouraging research here re countering this coronavirus, which we learn is in the same group as the common cold (that's also a coronavirus).

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/10/hopes-rise-over-experimental-drugs-effectiveness-against-coronavirus

This is indeed encouraging. Thank you for posting this, Rosaline! Also note that I have copied your post in the new Coronavirus thread (see below).

We are flooded with news about the Coronavirus outbreak and it's spread around the world, but some of those behind-the-scene information, which can shed a light of hope in this unprecedented turmoil, often go unnoticed. If you wish to share such information, or your thoughts on the subject in general, I have opened a new thread 'Coronavirus (COVID-19)' (under 'Member Space') for that purpose.

However, specific information about tournaments and cancellations related to the Coronavirus should continue to be posted in this thread.

*** LATEST NEWS ***

Looks like we are going to have a 'forced' rest!   Not to surprise though in view of the latest developments in Europe around the world.

The ATP, which governs men's tennis, is in advanced discussions on suspending its tour events for six weeks, @NYTSports has learned

— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) March 11, 2020

Stand by for a possible six week suspension of both the ATP and WTA Tours - the player councils are meeting today, and that seems to be the direction of travel (for the players, at least)

— Russell Fuller (@russellcfuller) March 11, 2020

REPORT: Miami Open To Be Cancelled With Possibility Of Entire Tour Suspension Amid Coronavirus Threat - UBITENNIS https://t.co/IKfgLCMO6w

— Coffee Break Tennis (@CoffeeBreakTens) March 11, 2020

LATEST NEWS (cont.)...

As mentioned above, the ATP and WTA Tours are reported to have been in talks and planning a six-week hiatus due to the impact and spread of Coronavirus across the globe.

The ATP board is expected to officialize the decision on Thursday, after it's been approved by the Players Council.

From Stephanie Myles, 5 hours ago, yet nothing on the Miami Open website. Still showing the announcement of two days ago that the tournament will proceed!    

Fabio Fognini's dad Tweets that his son just told him the Miami Open is off. https://t.co/QCW9tBlLQm

— Tennis.Life (@tennislifenews) March 11, 2020

Still awaiting for an announcement from the ATP to confirm suspension of all tennis activities?... while Djokovic, Nadal, Thiem and Monfils, amongst others, have already left the US and flown back home.

ATP suspends tennis for 6 weeks!

https://www.atptour.com/en/news/atp-tour-2020-six-week-suspension-decision

ATP Tour six-week Suspension

The six-week ATP Tour suspension announced today (to be in effect until April 26) will affect the following tournaments (cancelled): Indian Wells, Miami, Houston, Marrakech, Monte-Carlo, Barcelona and Budapest.

The next tournaments to be played would be: Estoril and Munich, followed by Madrid and Rome, but this could change, obviously, depending on the evolution of the situation worldwide.

Also, in their press release, the ATP indicated that they are reviewing the handling of Rankings points for the cancelled tournaments: "The ATP is carefully reviewing the broad impact of this evolving situation related to FedEx ATP Rankings points, and any decisions will be announced in due course."

The ATP has announced a six-week suspension of the men’s professional tennis tour due to public health & safety concerns over COVID-19.

— ATP Tour (@atptour) March 12, 2020

^^^ expected.  Pretty much all sports are suspending things.

It will be interesting to see how the ATP handles the rankings points.  Will they freeze the rankings?  That is probably the most fair, I guess.

Whatever they do about the ranking, Tour's suspension only strengthens Djokovic's stronghold over no 1 ranking. Rafa will lose a lot of clay points which would create more gap between him and no. 1 ranking. Since there's literally one else to challenge Novak in King's absence (weak era, anyone?) there's a very high likelihood of Djokovic surpassing King's 310 weeks @ #1 record in October.

IMO it will be unacceptable if ND is allowed to increase his weeks at No.1 when tennis is suspended for all these weeks nd if that is allowed we should all be protesting to the ATP that it's unfair on all the players if they don't suspend all records as well as suspending the tennis.

I wouldn't put it past ATP letting his weeks at No.1 increase while there's no play as they must be looking forward to the day when they can trumpet that their favourite has taken that record off Roger. but let's hope Rafa at least if not others will object strongly as Rafa is fit to play and it's not fair on him and similar applies to other players who are jostling for ranking places - points are very close in the lower echelons..Yes it is difficult for Roger to complain as no doubt the ND fans would go ballistic with rage and jealousy immediately in their usual way against anything to do with their hated Roger, but other fans also deserve consideration, not just his. 

So I think we need to check if his weeks at No.1 are increased during this suspension and if they are, to complain to the ATP that is grossly wrong - not because of Roger's record as I honestly doubt if ATP care about that, but it's grossly wrong against all other players. In the same way,Rafa's weeks at No.2 can't be increased. Fair's fair. If ATP whinge that Roger can't play anyway, the point is how would ATP feel if ND had the record and he coudn''t play for weeks and Roger's fans were demanding Roger, totlaly fit and expected to win everything coming up, were allowed to increase his weeks to surpass NDs during a period of NO PLAY FOR ANYONE?!!!

You bet they'd see it differently then. Their favourite challenged. That wouldn't do. So yes, stop increasing the weeks? 

I wouldn't be surprised if Roger will also object seeing it's his record of weeks that's at stake now. He couldn't play because he's injured but it's not his fault that tennis has been suspended whilst for all we know ND could have been injured in IW and unable to play for months, or Rafa might, or anyone might...  Surely they should maintain the status quo as far as they can, except that they will have to decide  how to deal with the ranking points that can't be challenged during the suspension. 

How will they deal with taking off points for tournaments that can't be played? 

Is there anyone here with the time and expertise to work out how the rankings will stand in 6 weeks from now if all those ranking points have been adjusted for tournaments not played? Do we already have such a table here - perhaps we do? 

Has tennis ever been suspended in full before other than over World Wars? I assume not. So this is an important time fot ATP and frankly they MUST get it right and fair for all or they will be in trouble with many players. And much as ND wants to beat Roger's record, I assume, I'm not sure he'd necessarily want to do it this way as it would be seen by so many as unfair. He wants to be loved, not hated, even though he feeds off that hatred, but he doesn't really want it that way.  Surely the last thing he wants is to bee seen as a cheat if he takes Roger's record due in great degree to a suspension? 

The thing about sport is people get injured as Roger is. And it's wrong if ND gets a  record due to there being a tennis suspension. We must be very vociferous to ATP if they allow ND's weeks at No.1 to increase over this period. If there's anyone here with any influence with ATP, please raise this with them. They may well not listen to any of us as we are "just tetchy and unreasonable Roger fans," but they might listen to someone convincing them that they must be seen to be fair.

Let's hope they do the right thing without our demanding it.

2 points re ranking

Firstly weeks at #1 already include weeks when tennis is not being played, ie off-season. 

Secondly, in their press release, the ATP said that they were looking at the points situation - no decision has been made yet. I recognize that this is a forum for Roger's fans, but the points situation is much more critical for lower ranked players, particularly those who made their breakthrough last year.  Loss of points for them could put them out of main draws into Q or worse, when they return.  Points differential is small over a large # of players, and it will depend upon WHEN they earned the points making up their ranking if no adjustment is made.  Some players will have lost a large % because most of their points came from the affected tournaments, while others within the same range of current points will lose little because they earned the bulk of their points later in the season.

Yes, I was thinking of lower ranked players quite as much as Roger. Good point re losing points leading to being excluded from draws

It seems the obvious thing is not to remove any points for now, just assume the upcoming cancelled tourneys "don't exist" so points can't be lost or gained. I don't see it's fair players could be losing loads of points and then be excluded from main draws or quali draws. 

Obviously it's unfair on the best clay players as they are losing nearly all of their season, or even the whole lot if it comes to that.  Let's hope that ATP show the right kind of concern for ALL players.

On the face of it this ATP "solution" , not determined yet, is wrong. A level field with no advantages has to be in place for all players. What are they thinking of? The lower ranked players indeed have to be seriously considered but also top players, where competition is keen and where unfair advantage for one--and for sure he'd already talked to ATP about it--hurts tennis, Sports history is a serious consideration. Tennis has a good reputation: why consider upsetting?

Rosaline wrote:[...]
How will they deal with taking off points for tournaments that can't be played? 

Is there anyone here with the time and expertise to work out how the rankings will stand in 6 weeks from now if all those ranking points have been adjusted for tournaments not played? Do we already have such a table here - perhaps we do? 

Yes, on the Ranking chart (posted in the 'ATP Rankings' thread), the MIN column shows the minimum points players would have in the future if they didn't play, or got zero results.

I compiled these numbers in a small chart here that shows what the ranking of the top 25 players would be on April 27, after the six-week Tour suspension, with no tournament being played. Although it's understood that the ATP is looking at the issue and may (hopefully) come up with a different plan.

Surprisingly, with a couple of exceptions, the impact overall is not that startling.
 
Roger is the one who has the most points to defend during this period, so, in a sense, that hiatus would soften the impact his absence would have had on his rankings. Right behind him, in terms of points to defend, is Thiem, but he would still be able to maintain his No 3 ranking.

The big losers would be Fognini, winner of Monte-Carlo last year, who would shed more than 40% of his points and drop from No 11 to No 24 (-13). Ouch! Isner [21] and Lajovic [23] would be in a similar situation and drop down to the No 40's probably.

Others, who have little to defend, would benefit from the situation, like Fritz and Carreno-Busta going up +6 in the rankings without playing.

Note regarding the 'swap' column - ATP rule: "In weeks where there are not four (4) Grand Slams and eight (8) ATP Masters 1000 tournaments in the ranking period, the number of a player’s best results from all eligible tournaments in the ranking period will be adjusted accordingly".

In other words, players can count an additional 'best result' from their 'non-countable' pool for each major tournament missing. Monte-Carlo is not part of the eight Masters 1000 tournaments mentioned above, as it isn't mandatory; it gets counted as part of the 'best results'.