Tennis: the problem with the current world ranking

Tennis has a problem. The best way to describe it is with Boris Becker, namely what can you call him. no, not a terrible nickname bum bum either MumbleBut with victory. Baker is: three-time Wimbledon winner, twelve-time Grand Slam champion (six as a player, six as Novak Djokovic’s coach), Olympic champion (in 1992 doubles with Michael Stich), three-time world champion champion (it was even then called Tennis Masters Cup) and of course the 49-time tournament winner. He was consistently good for some time in 1990/91, which saw him lead the world rankings for 12 weeks.

The tennis season is divided into different categories of tournaments; Grand Slams are big – which is why many non-tennis fans believe the season is over at the conclusion of the US Open. If it doesn’t, it will continue till the end of November. Points are based on the category of the tournament, which determines a place in the world rankings; Which is extremely important for seeding and the right to participate, and therein lies the game’s problem this year.

The world ranking should reflect the results of the last twelve months; But she currently doesn’t for non-sporting reasons. For example Novak Djokovic: he was not allowed to participate in the Australian Open for known reasons (refusal of vaccination) and no longer in the US Open for reasons that are incomprehensible. However, you could very well argue this: Djokovic didn’t get any points for his win at Wimbledon. The participation of Russian and Belarusian players was denied by the English organizers, which is why the players’ associations did not award any world ranking points.

We have to stop pretending that politics and sports politics have nothing to do with each other

Viktoria Azarenka’s example for women shows what happens: a Belarusian was recently denied a visa to enter Canada (without giving any reason); Had she reached the quarterfinals as she did years ago, she would have been seeded 21st, not 26th in New York, and would have been an easy task for her. Or Elena Rybakina, Russian-born Kazakh Wimbledon winner.

There were debates in London that did not exist: the points for the winner, who would have finished sixth at the US Open alone, and not 25. Or German Wimbledon semifinalist Tatjana Maria: she would probably have been seeding on the US Open list and avoided a first-round duel with Maria Sakkari (Greece, world number three).

There are always distortions and we have to stop pretending that politics and sports politics have nothing to do with each other – they are closely linked. point. A look at the world rankings should by no means rule out judging the current leaders (Cairos Alcaraz and Inga Swietek are all two US Open winners). But you can’t pretend it’s a normal season and a normal world ranking.