Two leading analysts and coaches from the world of tennis have urged the ATP to honour Novak Djokovic’s No.1 status despite the suspension of play.
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, both the ATP and WTA Tours have been suspended until June at the very earliest. As a consequence, officials have decided to freeze the ranking system. Meaning player’s will not lose any points that would have dropped off last year. A decision that has benefited some more than others.
Although it is still unclear as to how this affects Djokovic’s reign at the top. It is expected that due to the suspension, his tally of weeks as world No.1 will not be counted during the suspension. He is on the verge of overtaking Pete Sampras’ total of 286 weeks in top spot later this year to become second on the all-time list. Federer holds the record with 310 weeks.
Brad Gilbert recently told ESPN that the 32-year-old should be credited during this period. Djokovic has started 2020 by winning 18 matches in a row. He has won titles at the ATP Cup, Australian Open and Dubai Tennis Championships.
“He earned the ranking, and he was going to be No.1 for a while even if things went on as normal.” Said Gilbert.
“Going into Indian Wells, Djokovic was going to stay No.1 by the end, unless he lost before the semis and Rafa won the tournament.”
Gilbert is a former professional player himself who peaked at a career ranking high of fourth in the world back in 1990. After retiring, he coached various top players on the men’s tour such as Andre Agassi, Andy Roddick and Kei Nishikori.
Darren Cahill, who is the coach of Simona Halep, has also echoed a similar view to that of Gilbert. Arguing that Djokovic should be honoured up until the next grand slam. That would have been the French Open, but it has been postponed until September. Meanwhile a meeting will take place next week about if Wimbledon will go ahead or not.
“[Djokovic should get that credit] until the next major, and then I’m a bit unsure of what is the right thing to do,” Cahill said.
“These weeks he would have retained the No. 1. The same goes for [Ashleigh] Barty.”
On the other hand, some argue that it would be unfair that these weeks should be counted as players are unable to play. Especially if the suspension extends beyond the current date of June 6th. Something that is a strong possibility.
Up until March 24th, the ATP said they are yet to make a final decision on the matter. ATP spokesman Simon Higson has assured ESPN that ‘further information will be provided in due course.’ Although it is unclear as to when that will occur.
The frozen rankings explained
The ATP rankings have been frozen from the week commencing March 16th 2020. The current points tally takes into account the following three things :-
- FedEx ATP Rankings of 9 March 2020, counting results from the previous 52 weeks, including the 2019 BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells
- Challenger results including Nur-Sultan and Potchefstroom
- ITF World Tennis Tour results from the weeks of 2 March 2020 and 9 March 2020
This policy will be used until play resumed later this year at some point.
