Rafael Nadal seems to be pushing for a change in the ATP ranking system. At the moment the ATP rankings take in 1 year of results, but Nadal wants to see 2 years used instead (which is used in Golf). Nadal has said the change would lengthen careers by allowing big names to play less often and better protecting injured players. This all makes sense, but there are a lot of downsides. If players want to play less and earn as much money, the only person to lose out is the fans. Fans will only have limited opportunities to see their favourite players play, which I think will drive fans away from tennis and towards more active top player sports (such as Football).
Ohh.. and did I mention that Rafael Nadal would be the main player to benifit from the change. He would becoming world number 1 again!
p.s. Is it about time someone else started a new tour?
New world number three Andy Murray hit back at number four Novak Djokovic on Thursday after the Serb said the current rankings system was cruel. Djokovic was leapfrogged by Murray in the rankings on Monday despite landing a second title of the year in Belgrade at the weekend and reaching the last three Masters Series finals.
“There always seem to be problems and now it’s obviously the rankings,” Murray told a news conference after beating Tommy Robredo in the third round of the Madrid Open. It’s great that Novak’s done well the last few weeks but the first three or four months of the year I played a lot better than him so I think the rankings reflect very well how the guys are playing. Until this week I’ve never heard anyone complain. I think maybe only in the last week it’s become a problem for Novak.”
Players on the ATP tour have to defend the points they earned during the same week a year earlier, so the reigning champion at an event can only maintain his points tally, not improve it. “Playing three Masters Series finals in a row and winning a 250 event is incredible success and even then you are dropping a spot down in the rankings,” Djokovic said on Wednesday. “That shows how cruel the ranking system is in this sport.”
