General / Barry Millns / 13 February 2008 /

Barry Millns explains why the tennis rankings system probably is as complicated as it seems, and why Federer being No.1 for so long is no mean feat.

Roger Federer has been ranked world No.1 for over four years now. It is a remarkable achievement considering the strength of the opposition and the fact that he usually has so many ranking points to 'defend' from his previous appearance in each tournament twelve months earlier.

A player's ATP Ranking is based on calculating his total points from the 13 'mandatory' events - the four Grand Slams and the nine ATP Masters Series tournaments - and his best five results from all eligible International Series tournaments from the past 52 weeks. The Tennis Masters Cup counts as an additional 19th tournament for players who qualify for the circuit finale, while for each 'mandatory' event a player is not accepted he may count one extra International Series event towards his ranking.

The bigger the tournament; the more points on offer: for instance, a Grand Slam winner earns 1000 points (700 as runner-up), an ATP Masters Series champion 500 (350 as runner-up) etc. So in Federer's case, the Swiss currently has a total of 6630 points from the past year which is comprised of the following: 3150 (Grand Slams), 2280 (ATP Masters Series), 550 (International Series) and 650 (Tennis Masters Cup).

When Federer returned to Melbourne in January he had a ranking points' total of 7180. But with 1000 points to defend (or drop off) from winning the Australian Open title in 2007, his loss to Novak Djokovic in this year's semi-finals meant he only earned 450 this time round i.e. 7180 - 1000 + 450 = 6630.

As someone who tends to go far in most tournaments he plays, Federer has wisely reduced his schedule and has entered only 16 tournaments in the past 52 weeks (excluding Davis Cup ties which do not carry ranking points). Compare that with world No.4 Nikolay Davydenko who has played in 29 events in the same period (excluding Davis Cup ties) - yet in that time the Russian has played only four more singles matches with 79 compared to Federer's 75 - in other words it 'pays' points-wise to do better in the bigger events.

The ATP Rankings are also used for determining entry and seeding in all tournaments for both singles and doubles, although Wimbledon has its own method of calculation which also takes into account players' past performances on grass over the previous two years, as well as their world rankings.

At this week's International Series tournament in Costa de Saupe top seed Carlos Moya, currently trading at [4.7] to win the title, has, unlike last year, already made it through to the second round. But, because his lowest non-mandatory tournament score counting towards his current ranking of No.18 was the 40 points he picked up for reaching the quarter final last July in Amersfoort, he will need to reach at least the quarterfinals in Costa de Saupe (50 points) before it can help improve his overall 52-week total, and possibly his ranking, depending on the results of those players just above and below him!

In Marseille, top seed Novak Djokovic [4.8] has no points to defend having lost in last year's first round, while Delray Beach top seed James Blake [2.18] has already dropped the 120 points he won last year as runner-up because the tournament was staged a week earlier in the calendar i.e. more than 52 weeks ago.

Finally, not to be confused with the ATP Rankings, the ATP Race (currently led by Djokovic) reflects the performances of the world's best players during the calendar year since the start of the season. Everyone begins with zero points and the ATP Race determines the year-end world No.1 and which eight players qualify for the Masters Cup.

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