Interesting article in the Globe and Mail about the radical changes to the ATP's ranking system next year.
Some tennis fans have heard that ATP Tour officials have decided to rename the eight elite Masters Series tournaments (including the men's Rogers Cup) the "Masters 1000" events beginning in 2009.
To justify having the "1000" in the name, the number of ranking points awarded to the winner of Masters Series tournaments is being doubled from 500 to 1,000. In order to retain the ratio with Grand Slam winners points, those will also double - from 1,000 to 2,000 points. Everyone assumed this seemingly straightforward doubling of points would take place throughout the whole system, from the mega-bucks Grand Slams right down to the lowly, entry-level $10,000 Futures tournaments.
But that is not the case. While the winners of the Grand Slams and
Masters Series events will receive twice as many points, after that
there is a big drop-off. For example, the finalist at a Grand Slam this
year received 700 points, which should be 1,400 if it was doubled. But
the finalists next year will get 1,200, only an 85 per cent increase.
The
percentages go down from there. A player who reaches the round of 16
will receive 200 points next year, just a 20 per cent increase over the
160 he got in 2008. Similarly, percentage gains are also lower in the
ATP 500 and ATP 250 level events.
As I've already confessed, I don't know the intricacies of the ATP ranking system, but conceptually it's the same as the WTA system. So my initial response to this whole scheme is that it's kinda nuts but there is merit to it. So basically what I'm saying is I don't know what my reaction is right now.
