Impact of 6-Week Suspension on ATP Rankings – Novak Djokovic to Retain the Top Spot

The ATP suspended the men’s tennis tour for six weeks due to the escalating health and safety issues arising from the global outspread of coronavirus on Thursday. The adjournment of the tour will certainly impact the ATP rankings.

The six-weeks suspension means no ATP Tour and ATP Challenger Tour events will take place until April 27. As a result, the Miami Open, the ATP 250 event in Houston, Marrakech and Budapest, the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters and the Barcelona Open are the tournaments which have been called off.

ATP rankings scenario after six-weeks

The ATP Ranking system will cause some confusion among fans given this rarity of an event getting cancelled. However, the tour has not announced any ranking adjustments so far.

The ATP rankings are based on a 52-week basis. Hence, the players drop their points after 52 weeks regardless of whether the tournament happens or not. This rule stays until any further announcements are made from the association about freezing the rankings until at least 27th April.

Novak Djokovic

The Serbian will drop 45 points on Monday as he reached the round of 32 at the Indian Wells last year. Novak Djokovic will also lose 90 points the week after. The 17-time Grand Slam winner will further drop his 180 points earned last year for reaching the quarterfinals at the Monte-Carlo Masters.

In total, the 32-year-old will be 315 points less when the tour is scheduled to resume on 27th April. He will still retain his top spot in the ATP rankings.

Rafael Nadal

The 19-time Grand Slam champion will drop 360  points on Monday and the week after next as he reached the semifinals at the Indian Wells Masters and Monte-Carlo Masters last year. He also reached the last-four at the Barcelona Open 2019 and will lose 180 points.

Rafael Nadal will stay at the second position in the world rankings despite dropping 900 points in total till 27th April. However, his gap with Djokovic will widen to 955 points.

Dominic Thiem

The suspension of the tour will affect Dominic Thiem the most in the top 5. The Austrian will lose 1,600 points in the six weeks suspension. Thiem clinched the titles at the Indian Wells and Barcelona. He will hence drop 1000 and 500 points that he earned last year.

He will also lose the 10 and 90 points he earned at Miami Open 2019 and Monte-Carlo Masters 2019 respectively. However, Thiem will remain on the third position with a gap of 415 points over Federer.

Also Read: WTA Rankings Scenario After 5-Week Suspension – Sofia Kenin to Climb up to No.3

Roger Federer

After the tour recommences on April 27, Roger Federer will come out in the best position. He will lose 1600 ATP points. However, he was not going to defend his points anyway as he is sidelined from the tour due to his recent knee surgery. He will drip to No.5 in the world.

Daniil Medvedev

The Russian star will drop a total of 795 points from last year in the six-week suspension period. Daniil Medvedev reached the semifinals of the Monte-Carlo Masters 2019 and finals of the Barcelona Open 2019. Hence he will lose the 360 and 300 points earned last year at the start of the clay season. The 24-year-old will replace Roger Federer at the fourth position with a 65 point lead over him.

Current ATP rankings

ATP rankings on April 27th