Stefanos Tsitsipas’ sorrow was clear when he discussed his second-round loss at the Madrid Open last month. The Greek revealed that his goal had been to acquire as close to 6,000 ATP ranking points as possible throughout the clay-court season, which he had calculated to be the greatest amount he could gain during this time in an ideal scenario. He’d fallen behind.
“Now I am maybe a step back from even achieving that, so minus 1,000,” he stated. “I just have to keep on working for the points, because I really want to get out on the court to fight for the points that I feel belong to me, and reach new heights in terms of my ranking and my performance this season.”
One of the peculiarities of professional tennis is the importance of the rankings. They determine everything from the tournaments that a player can enter to the amount of money a sponsorship contract might pay out. Their most basic function, though, is to measure each player in relation to their peers. “Those numbers don’t lie,” says Tsitsipas, the world No 9. “They say everything.”
Despite how important rankings are to the sport’s operation, Tsitsipas’ approach is unique. Few players talk openly about points and placements, because while setting objective goals can be a good motivator, the number next to a player’s name can soon become their worst nightmare.
“Injury, draws, there’s a lot of things in tennis that you can’t control,” says Britain’s Jack Draper. “It’s difficult to set a goal just to be disappointed. If you’re focused on ‘Get to this ranking, get to this rating,’ you’ll cease growing as a player. You won’t get to that point.”
“Injury, draws, there’s a lot of things in tennis that you can’t control,” says Britain’s Jack Draper. “It’s difficult to set a goal just to be disappointed. If you’re focused on ‘Get to this ranking, get to this rating,’ you’ll cease growing as a player. You won’t get to that point.”
Many gamers have learned this the hard way. “Having those outcome goals was almost debilitating for me,” Madison Keys states. “I put way too much pressure on myself, and I honestly disliked being out playing tennis because I couldn’t focus on why I was there and what I was trying to accomplish. So I made a concerted effort to set more performance-based goals and focus more on how I’m playing and how I want to play.”
Since their introductions in 1973 and 1975 respectively, the ATP and WTA rankings have played a pivotal role in the development of the sport. Both ranking systems adopt a rolling 52-weeks system and each tournament category offers a certain number of points each round according to their importance. The four grand slam tournaments boast the highest amount of points. Those who are unable to match the points they accrued a year earlier will fall in the rankings.
In the digital age, ignoring the rankings is even more difficult than before. Players used to learn of their new rankings only each Monday, but the rise of “live rankings” , initially calculated by fans, have transformed the experience of playing and following tennis, allowing players and fans alike to chart progress round by round.
Although Keys has managed to avoid following her live ranking, the temptation has always been there. “It can become so easy to get wrapped up into it,” she says. “And I think playing from such a young age, it’s hard because that number next to your name can mean so much and it really takes the fun out of tennis. You just start focusing on that so much, but it doesn’t really matter.”
In the opening week of the Italian Open this month, the qualifier Zizou Bergs stepped on to Campo Centrale for the biggest match of his career against Rafael Nadal, where the 24-year-old impressively stood his ground, narrowly losing to the 10-time champion in three sets. The Belgian has reached a defining moment in his career as he stands on the verge of finally breaking into the top 100.
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