ATP Tour alters ranking system due to Covid-19 pandemic

The ATP has temporarily altered its ranking system to accommodate restrictions due to the coronavirus.

Nick Kyrgios, pictured at Wimbledon last year, is among players who could benefit from a new ATP Tour rankings ruling Picture: AP

A rankings ruling by the ATP Tour has provided a reprieve for Australian stars adverse to travelling to America to play the US Open scheduled to start in late August.

Davis Cup representatives Nick Kyrgios, John Millman and Alexei Popyrin are among players concerned about travelling to the US during the coronavirus crisis.

World No 1 Ash Barty is also weighing up whether to head to New York, with a representative telling The Australian a decision would not be made until next month.

By that stage, there will be clarity as to whether the first grand slam since the Australian Open will progress, with organisers set to make a call this month.

The US has recorded almost three million cases of COVID-19 and more than 132,000 deaths, though New York is no longer one of the hot spots.

But the spread of the virus is wreaking havoc on the schedule.

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The USTA decided on Monday to cancel a series of lower-tier tournaments on the ITF circuit in Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Massachusetts and Tennessee.

The ATP is aware of the difficulties travelling to the US from some nations, with South America a particular concern, and has altered its ranking formula temporarily. Rankings are calculated on players’ 18 best tournaments over a rolling 12-month period.

To protect those unable to ­attend various tournaments in coming months due to COVID-19 restrictions, the ATP has come up with a compromise that will calculate rankings over a 22-month period.

The ruling effectively gives those who decide to travel to the US next month and then on to Europe from mid-September a free roll of the dice. Kyrgios, for example, reached the third round in New York last year and earned 90 ranking points. Should he play this year and fare better, he will be able to use the 2020 points for his ranking. At worst, he will keep the points from the 2019 tournament.

The ATP has announced how the revised FedEx ATP Rankings will be calculated once the Tour resumes.

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Some players will fare better as a result of the decision than others. Rafael Nadal, for example, is due to defend his US Open and French Open titles in the space of a month. This gives the 19-time major winner, who trails Roger Federer by one on the all-time list, the luxury of skipping the US Open without any penalty to his ranking should he decide to.

It would allow him to resume in Madrid on clay on September 7 and focus on his pursuit of the Swiss champion, who is sidelined after undergoing knee surgery, at the rescheduled Roland Garros.

Federer is another to benefit given he will lose no ground at all despite injury ending his season.

The WTA Tour is yet to reach a decision regarding its rankings but is considering a similar model.

It may look to match this year’s rescheduled events in Europe with the 2019 tournaments.

Barty, who is defending her French Open title, has 2330 points to defend in Europe should the latter scenario occur. She currently has a 2641-point buffer on world No 2 Simona Halep.