This week is the official start of the clay-court swing of the men’s tour with tournaments taking place in Marrakech and Houston. As the focus of the players switch to the dirt, some are facing a critical two-and-a-half months on the tour.
Under the current ranking format, any points a player win at a tournament are theirs until the following year. Then they have the chance to defend those points. For example, at the upcoming Monte Carlo Masters, Rafael Nadal is the current champion and won 1000 points in 2018. Therefore, this year, he is defending 1000 points in the tournament.
Here is a guide to how many points players are defending on the clay this season.
Rafael Nadal (current ranking – 2)
2018 Points defending – 4680 :-
– Monte-Carlo: 1000 (champion)
– Barcelona: 500 (champion)
– Madrid: 180 (quarter-finals)
– Rome: 1000 (champion)
– Roland Garros: 2000 (champion)
Like every year, the clay court season is vital for Rafael Nadal. A player nicknamed as the king of the surface due to his record-breaking success on it. At the 2018 French Open he became the first man in history to win the same grand slam for an 11th time. Besides Roland Garros, he was also triumphant at two Masters tournaments and an ATP 500 event in Barcelona.
Along with his dominance on the clay comes a big challenge. No other player – man or woman – will be defending as many points as Nadal this season. To put this into perspective, in the current top 10 on the ATP Tour he is defending at least 2290 more points than anybody else.
Nadal’s season so far has seen him reach the final of the Australian Open, but he has also been bothered by injury issues. Withdrawing from his Indian Wells clash with Roger Federer due to a right knee injury and missing Miami afterwards.
So far in his career, Nadal has won 57 of his 80 ATP titles on clay.
https://twitter.com/woody16668/status/1115540532288270336
Novak Djokovic (current ranking – 1)
2018 Points defending – 855 :-
– Monte-Carlo: 90 (quarter-finals)
– Madrid: 45 (round 2)
– Rome: 360 (semi-finals)
– Roland Garros: 360 (quarter-finals)
A lot has changed for Novak Djokovic since his last tournament on the clay. The Serbian world No.1 is currently on a 21-match winning streak in the grand slam tournaments. Should he prevail at Roland Garros later this season, he would hold all four major titles at the same time for a second time in his career.
There is a lot of optimism for Djokovic, who is undoubtedly in better shape both mentally and physically than that of 12 months ago. Although, he had recently endured a disappointing run in America with earlier than expected losses in Indian Wells and Miami.
With just 855 points to defend, Djokovic is in a prime position to strengthen his lead at the top of the rankings. Should he perform better at certain events, especially the Madrid Open where he lost in the second round last year.
Djokovic has contested 23 ATP finals on the clay so far in his career, winning 13 titles. However, his most recent triumph was back in 2016 at the French Open.
Nothing can stop Novak Djokovic in his training for the clay season. ☔
(Video @DjokerNole) pic.twitter.com/qL4YIbUNiL
— We Are Tennis (@WeAreTennis) April 9, 2019
Roger Federer (current ranking – 4)
2018 points defending – 0 :-
– Didn’t play any clay tournaments in 2018
Swiss Maestro Roger Federer finds himself in a win-win situation. The 20-time grand slam champion is set to make his return to the clay at the Madrid Open next month. In what will be his first competitive match on the surface since the 2016 Italian Masters. In recent years, Federer has missed the clay swing due to either injury or opting to rest his body.
Due to his hiatus from the clay, any wins Federer records will add to his current points tally. Few regards him as a serious contender for major glory given the likes of Nadal and Djokovic, but should Federer achieve some deep runs in tournaments, he could rise further up the rankings. Placing him in a stronger spot heading into his beloved grass season.
“I’m not very confident going into this clay court season, I can tell you that, because I don’t even remember how to slide anymore. I’m taking baby steps at this point.” Federer told reporters in March.
“To be honest, I didn’t play one point — not one shot on clay, I don’t believe, last year. Two years ago I played two days. Three years ago I played not feeling great in Monaco and Rome and all that. So it’s been so little that I really don’t know what to expect.”
It was at the French Open where Federer played his first main draw match in a grand slam. Losing in the first round of the 1999 tournament to third seed Pat Rafter.
Alexander Zverev (current ranking – 3)
2018 points defending – 2570 :-
– Monte Carlo: 360 (semi-finals)
– Munich: 250 (champion)
– Madrid: 1000 (champion)
– Rome: 600 (runner-up)
– Roland Garros: 360 (quarter-finalist)
21-year-old Zverev is the only top 10 player in action this week after accepting a wild card to play in the Marrakech Open. A tournament where the winner can claim 250 points. The German is hoping to turn his fortunes around over the next few weeks following a roller coaster start to 2019.
Blighted by illness recently, Zverev was far from his best on the America hard courts. However, he has illustrated his talent during the first two events of the year. Reaching the fourth round of the Australian Open (losing to Milos Raonic) and the final of the Mexican Open (losing to Nick Kyrgios).
Zverev has the second highest amount of points to defend after Nadal. Last year he enjoyed his best-ever run on the clay, which was highlighted by a Masters title (Madrid) and reaching the quarter-finals at Roland Garros. Zverev’s best grand slam performance to date.
Zverev will kick-off his Marrakech campaign on Tuesday against Denis Istomin.
Dominic Thiem (current ranking – 5)
2018 points defending – 2240 :-
-Monte-Carlo: 180 (quarter-finals)
– Madrid: 600 (runner-up)
– Rome: 10 (Round 2)
– Lyon: 250 (Champion)
– Roland Garros: 1200 (Runner-up)
It can be argued that Austria’s Dominic Thiem is at his most dangerous when playing on the clay. Illustrated by the fact he is one of only three of players to have ever defeated Nadal on the surface three times. The other two are Djokovic and Gasto Guido.
Thiem embarks upon the clay swing high in confidence after clinching his first Masters 1000 title in Indian Wells. He will return to action next week in Monte Carlo as the fourth seed in the draw.
“One thing that would never change is that clay is my home.” Thiem recently stated. “It’s my favourite surface. I grew up on it. I just feel great whenever I come back at it.”
So far in Thiem’s career, 14 out of his 19 ATP finals have been played on the clay.
Kei Nishikori (current ranking 6)
2018 points defending – 970 :-
– Monte-Carlo: 600 (finalist)
– Madrid: 10 (Round one)
– Rome: 180 (quarter-finals)
– Roland Garros: 180 (Round Four)
In 2014 Kei Nishikori became the first Japanese-born player to win a clay court title on the ATP Tour at the Barcelona Open. Meanwhile, at the French Open he has reached the fourth round or better every year since 2015.
The biggest challenge for Nishikori starts on Monday in Monte Carlo, where he will be defending 600 out of his 970 points on the clay. Last year at the tournament he scored wins over Marin Cilic and Zverev, before losing to Nadal.
“I’m not playing bad or terrible. I try to keep my head up. Clay court season is coming. It’s completely new season. I try to have a good practice, two more weeks, and be ready for Monte-Carlo.” Nishikori said following his loss at the Miami Open.
https://twitter.com/keinishikori/status/1113432531058266112
The other guys
Here is the amount of points some other members of the ATP Tour are defending this year :-
No.7 Kevin Anderson – 550 points (SF Madrid, R1 Rome and QF French Open)
No.8 Stefanos Tsitsipas – 575 points (R2 Monte Carlo, Runner-up Barcelona, SF Estoril, R2 Rome and R2 French Open)
*No.9 Juan Martin del Potro – 900 points (QF Madrid, QF Rome and SF French Open)
*No. 10 John Isner (SF Houston, SF Madrid, R2 Rome, SF Lyon and QF French Open)
No.13 Borna Coric – 235 points (R2 Monte Carlo, QF Madrid, R1 Rome and QF French Open)
No.16 Marco Cecchinato – 1091 points (R2 Monte-Carlo, Champion Budapest, R2 Rome and SF French Open).
* currently sidelined by injury
Note: rankings based on week commencing 8/4/19)
