Rafael Nadal wants the rankings system switched from one year to two

[marmar]

from ESPN:



Rafael Nadal is pushing hard for the ATP to change its rankings formula by counting two years' worth of results instead of one, similar to the current golf system. For a while now, Nadal has said the change would lengthen careers by allowing big names to play less often and better protecting injured players. The idea seems to have recently gained more traction. Many other players support the move, says Nadal, and though Roger Federer remains a prominent exception, there's even talk about the issue at an official level. Now here's one more reason for Nadal to like the two-year system: It would mean he'd still be No. 1.

Say what? Yes, expanding the current rankings system to stretch over two years instead of one would mean Nadal would still lead Novak Djokovic, despite all his recent losses to the Serb. To get a glimpse of what the idea might look like in practice, a list was obtained for this story calculating what last week's rankings would have been under a two-year system. It uses the ATP's current rankings formula and applies it to the past year and also the year before that, showing what the rankings would look like if there were no tweaks to the system in between.

What's more, it looks like Djokovic would have yet to be No. 1 at any time. Nadal would have maintained his hold on the top spot all of last year and would still have been No. 1 even after losing his seventh final in a row to Djokovic at the Australian Open a couple of weeks ago. That may not make much sense if thinking back over the past year, but it does when looking at the past two years. Currently, Djokovic holds three Slams and five Masters tournaments while Nadal has one Slam and one nonmandatory Masters, Monte Carlo. But over the past two years, both Nadal and Djokovic have won four Slams each, and Nadal has four Masters titles and five Masters finals (including the World Tour Finals) against Djokovic's five Masters victories. Put all that together and out comes a new -- or rather, old -- No. 1. ...................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://espn.go.com/tennis/story/_/id/7552875/tennis-double-ranking-period-atp-tour-trouble

[joeybee12]

1. Stupid idea...Tiger stunk for a long time before

he started dropping.