ATP: Who is defending what this grass season?

The grass season has officially begun and the countdown is on to Roger Federer’s much-anticipated return to his favourite surface.

Can the Swiss maestro win an unprecedented eighth Wimbledon title? Will his gamble of skipping the clay season help his quest?

These are just two of the questions dominating discussion right now – but we have another one to ask, who is defending what this grass season?

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To answer it, we’ve collated ranking points earned during the 2016 grass swing of the world’s top 20-ranked players and compared this against their current ranking totals. The result? A contrasting picture of players with lots to defend, and others who have an opportunity to make big ranking gains.

Reigning Wimbledon champion Andy Murray (who also won Queen’s) has the most points to defend with 2,500. The world No.1 is contesting the same two events this year, which means he can’t earn any extra rankings points.

Does this open the door for world No.2 Rafael Nadal, who has nothing to defend after missing last year with a wrist injury, to surpass the Brit at the top of the rankings? Watch this space.

Canadian Milos Raonic has the highest percentage of points to defend. A finalist at Wimbledon and Queen’s last year, those results equate to 33 per cent of his current ranking total.

Federer has 20 per cent of his ranking built around his grass court performances. So while he does have a lot to defend, his schedule including Stuttgart this week, followed by Halle and Wimbledon, means he also has the opportunity to make gains.

Keep an eye on: Grigor Dimitrov. A former junior Wimbledon champion, the Bulgarian also reached the semifinals in 2014. He only managed two grass wins last season, but is in much better form now and with little points to defend, could challenge for a top 10 return.

Potential big mover: Novak Djokovic. A shock third round exit at Wimbledon last year was the start of the form wobbles that have since plagued the Serb. Recently demoted to world No.4, could grass be where he rediscovers his spark? For the first time in a long time, the three-time Wimbledon champion doesn’t have the pressure of lots of ranking points to defend.

In trouble: Tomas Berdych. The Czech player reached the Wimbledon semifinals last year, which means he has a big chunk of points to defend. His form is suspect too, failing to reach at least the fourth round at either the Australian Open or French Open for the first time since 2005.