Punishing Wimbledon? Or the Players?

As soon as Wimbledon announced that Russian and Belarusian players would be banned from this year's tournament, you knew the ATP and WTA would have a reaction.  Both tours said that the unilateral move was a breach of contract and threatened to pull Wimbledon's raking points if they went through with it.  Well, they did.  And they did.

Wimbledon is the most prestigious tournament in tennis.  The lack of ranking points won't change that.  They don't award ranking points for the Davis/Fed Cup or Olympics either, and that doesn't stop the top players from representing their country in those events.  The difference with Wimbledon, of course, is that as a Grand Slam, it offers the most points of any tournament on tour.  Not this year, though.  Barring a last-minute change, Wimbledon 2022 will effectively be an exhibition tournament.

After her first-round loss at the French Open, Naomi Osaka indicated she wasn't sure if she'd play Wimbledon or not.  The lack of ranking points was essentially the sole reason why.  (Although, Osaka didn't play Wimbledon last year, so she has no points to defend.)  I'm sure she won't be the only one.  The prestige of winning Wimbledon and the prize money will be enough to still draw the type of field you'd expect, but that might not be enough incentive for some, especially with no ranking points at stake.

What makes the ATP and WTA's decision to strip Wimbledon of its ranking points even worse is that last year's Wimbledon points will still come off once the tournament is over.  So, everybody will lose their Wimbledon points from 2021 and replace them with 0.  And, since Grand Slam points are automatically included for every player, they're stuck with that 0 until Wimbledon 2023.

So, in effect, the players will be penalized for playing Wimbledon.  Novak Djokovic will lose the 2000 ranking points he got for winning last year.  As a result, he'll lose the No. 1 ranking.  To Daniil Medvedev.  One of the Russian players who's not allowed to even play Wimbledon!

While Djokovic is the easiest example, he isn't the only one who'll see a precipitous ranking drop after Wimbledon.  What about finalists Matteo Berrettini and Karolina Pliskova?  Or out-of-nowhere men's semifinalist Hubert Hurkacz (who beat Federer in the quarters in Roger's most recent match)?  None of them will have a chance to defend their Wimbledon points.

That's what has the players so upset with the ATP and WTA over their decision to turn Wimbledon into a glorified exhibition tournament.  They did it without getting any input from the players, so that rubbed them the wrong way to start.  But mainly, the players are wondering whose side the tours are on.  Because stripping Wimbledon of ranking points doesn't penalize Wimbledon.  It penalizes the players. 

It also sends mixed messages.  Who do you actually support?  I get that the tours don't think the actions by the Russian and Belarusian governments should be held against players from those two countries, which is why they're allowing them to continue playing while not having a national flag next to their name.  But what are you saying to everybody else who isn't Russian or Belarusian?  And what does that say to the Ukranian players on tour?

This isn't some random tournament, either.  If they're ranked high enough, players are required to enter the Grand Slams.  If they're injured or choose not to play for another reason, they get 0 ranking points and those stay on there for a full 12 months until the next year's edition of the tournament.  That's why you always hear about players having to "defend" points and the rankings fluctuate so dramatically after the Grand Slams.

In 2020 and 2021, both the ATP and WTA rankings were a little more flexible because of COVID.  Since so many tournaments were cancelled and some players chose not to or were unable to play in certain tournaments because of travel restrictions, the rankings weren't based on the standard 12-month rolling period.  If a tournament was played twice, only the player's better result counted towards their ranking.  A fair and reasonable solution.

Now that things are back to normal, however, the rankings are back to normal, too.  Your results stay on your ranking for a full year until the next edition of that tournament is played (assuming the dates are the same).  So, everyone's French Open points will be adjusted at the end of the tournament, with their 2021 points coming off and their 2022 points going on.  And those 2022 points will stay on their ranking until the end of the 2023 French Open.

Even though they've announced that ranking points won't be awarded for Wimbledon, they're still removing everyone's 2021 Wimbledon points.  That's the part that really doesn't sit well with me.  Especially because there's such an obvious compromise that can be reached.

Whether it's right or wrong, the ATP and WTA have every right to withhold ranking points from Wimbledon.  Just like Wimbledon has every right to follow British government regulations and not allow Russian or Belarusian players to enter the tournament.  And there's a way for both of them to make their point without the players paying the price.

All they need to do is do what they did when tennis was on pause and the rankings were frozen.  If they're determined to "punish" Wimbledon by not awarding any ranking points for the tournament, that's fine.  But then don't have everybody's points from Wimbledon 2021 drop off.  That way nobody has to replace whatever they earned last year with a 0.

While I'm sure there's a solution to be reached, that would be the fairest way to handle things from a player's perspective.  Yes, the prize money will be the same whether the tournament's "official" or "exhibition," and it would still be a Grand Slam title.  But the ranking points are just as important.  Especially for the lower-ranked players.  Most tournaments use the rankings to determine who gets direct entry, so being ranked high enough to get into some of the lower-level events is a very big deal to them.

None of this is ideal.  Obviously.  But there's a fair solution out there.  And it needs to be one that doesn't negatively impact the players who choose to play Wimbledon.  Which right now there isn't.