Alexander Zverev has been one of the last tennis players to criticize the new ATP ranking system, who has counted the best results of each player of the 2019 and 2020 seasons after last year's break due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Before his debut in the Acapulco tournament, where he beat Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz, Zverev, 23, seventh in the standings with 5,635 points, argued that if the ranking system were the usual he would be several positions higher. “The ranking does not matter to me with the current system. It should be Top-4 or Top-5 in the world with the normal system, but the system we have now is a bit absurd.”
Zverev gives as an example the case of Roger Federer, who ranks sixth in the standings with 6,375 points, just ahead of Zverev … despite having spent almost the entire 2020 season without playing after his knee operation. “I'm Roger Federer's biggest fan, but he hasn't played for a year and is ranked higher than me. I've played a Grand Slam final and a Masters 1,000 final. The system is a mess.”
It should be remembered that last July, in full stoppage of the circuit due to the pandemic, The ATP announced this new system that would count the 18 best results of each tennis player between March 2019 and December 2020, hence Federer retains more points than Zverev After his results achieved in the 2019 season and despite not playing just in 2020 (he only competed in the Australian Open).
It is not the first time that criticism of the ranking is also linked to the figure of Roger Federer. Last December, the vice president of the German Tennis Federation, Dirk Hordoff, directly accused the Swiss stating that “Federer changed the ranking system to protect himself.” Now Zverev must continue adding points to climb positions in 2021, when the ranking will return to normal, counting the 19 best results of the tennis players this season.