The Association of Tennis Professional (ATP) used one of the most complex formulations when calculating the rankings of the tennis players. However recently German tennis star Alexander Zverev called out the ranking system as bizarre and also claiming it to be a mess as he feels he should have been higher.
Now following the German, Russia prodigy Andrey Rublev has also spoken on this matter. The ATP froze the rankings in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic during that time and while people thought that it would help a lot for the less ranked players, the higher ranked ones have been most affected by it.
For example, Zverev is currently behind Roger Federer who has been on an injury layoff for over a year and has only reached the Australian Open semifinals last year. Whereas Zverev has been fairly consistent and reached the finals at the Paris Masters and US Open. Still, the Swiss is ranked sixth with Zverev at seventh. Likewise, Rublev has had a dream year on ATP tours but still finds himself ranked eighth.
When asked if he agreed with Alexander Zverev, the Russian said, “If we had the normal system, I would be #4 in the world,” Rublev said. “So what do you think is better for me, to be #8 or #4? With the system we have now, for me, it’s much tougher to be #4, so here’s the answer.”
On the day of writing this article the 23-year old has won the ATP Cup with Russia at the beginning of the year and then went to the quarterfinals at the Australian Open. Then he followed it up with a win at Rotterdam Open and also reached the semifinals of the Qatar Open. With these amazing results, the 23-year old has earned 1,260 points, putting him third in the Race to Turin 2021. But as the ranking system was frozen the Russian did not move a place which is heartbreaking.
He is currently featuring at the ATP Dubai Tennis Championships and has progressed to the round of 16 without breaking a sweat and is looking like a top contender to clinch the title.
While some players faced the disadvantage a few got favoured by the rule as Daniil Medvedev reached his career of World No. 2 breaking the dominance of the big four which was there for 16 long years. Greek tennis star Stefanos Tsitsipas has also gained from the system change as he leapfrogged over Federer to become World No.5.
