Why were no ranking points allocated at this year’s Wimbledon?
The ATP and the WTA, the governing bodies for men’s and women’s tennis, have permitted Russian and Belarusian players to carry on competing at tour events but under a neutral banner following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. However, the organizers of Wimbledon, the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, went one step further and barred players from Russia and Belarus to avoid any sporting achievement of Russian and Belarusian players from being used as propaganda.
In response to this controversial ban, ATP and WTA decided to strip the Grand Slam event of any ranking points for this year.
How many points do the Wimbledon winner and runner-up get?
Both men’s and women’s singles winners at the grass-court Major earn 2000 points. However, while the runner-up in the men’s event gets 1200 points, the women’s singles runner-up is awarded 1300 points.
How does the Ranking points system work?
ATP/WTA Rankings are based on the points won by the players in certified events over last 52 weeks.
Irrespective of how many events a player takes part in, the points for male and female players are considered from a best of 19 (Four Slam, eight Masters1000 and seven ‘best others’) and 16 (Four Slams, four Masters1000 and eight ‘best others’) events respectively.
Who bore the brunt of no ranking points being awarded at Wimbledon this year, and how?
Men
Serbia’s Novak Djokovic, despite defending his title, lost 2000 points from last year and dropped from third to seventh in the rankings. Italy’s Matteo Berrettini, who lost to Djokovic in 2021 final, though could not participate this year after testing positive for COVID-19, but even if he could, he was set to drop 1200 points earned last year. Berrettini slipped four places to 15th.
Eight-time champion Roger Federer dropped out of the ATP rankings for the first time in a quarter-century. The Swiss maestro was 97th before play began at the All England Club but now has zero points since he has not played a singles match after his quarterfinal loss to Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz last year.
Belgian David Goffin repeated last year’s quarterfinal finish, while Chile’s Cristian Garin improved his fourth-round finish from last year by reaching the quarterfinals. Yet, Goffin and Garin dropped 180 points and slipped 13 places, to 71st and 56th, respectively.
Women
Ons Jabeur became the first Tunisian, Arab and African woman to reach a Grand Slam final. Reaching the summit clash would have earned Jabeur 1300 points in another year. Instead, she dropped 430 points gained from her quarterfinal finish last year and slipped three places to fifth.
Australian Ajla Tomljanovic repeated her last year’s quarterfinal finish but like Jabeur, lost those 430 points gained in 2021. However, Tomljanovic took a bigger hit and slipped 27 places to 71st.
Who benefitted from no ranking points being awarded at Wimbledon this year, and how?
Men
Rafael Nadal moved up one place to number three as he had no points at stake after missing last year’s Wimbledon due to a foot injury.
Berrettini’s compatriot Jannik Sinner, who took Djokovic to five sets in their quarterfinal clash this year, rose three places to number 10 since he only lost 10 points from last year’s first-round exit.
Slovakia’s Alex Molcan, who didn’t even qualify for the main draw in 2021, reached the third round this year. Without losing or gaining any points, Molcan jumped seven places to 44th.
Women
Estonia’s Anett Kontaveit, seeded second, reached the second this year. However, the fact that she had exited from the first round in 2021, combined with Jabeur’s drop in rankings, meant that Kontaveit climbed one spot to become the World No. 2.
Olympic champion Belinda Bencic, despite first round exits for two straight years, gained three places to 13th.
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