Andy Murray is the world No.2. Stan Wawrinka is ranked No.4. Novak Djokovic is fifth.
They’re certainly not playing like it. In fact, two of them are not playing at all.
And they’re not the only players whose ATP rankings seem out of sync with the level they’ve attained in 2017. Kei Nishikori is 10th. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 12th. But both have had pretty forgettable seasons.
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There is the possibility that with the two-best performed players this year, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer, scooping the bulk of the ranking points on offer, there’s less left over for other players. Basically, one or two good tournament results can separate that player from the parity of the remaining pack and artificially inflate their ranking.
But it only explains the situation to some degree.
Nadal, who returned to world No.1 this week after a three-year gap, has apparently accrued the lowest points total of any world No.1 since the new points structure was introduced. He has also failed to win a title away from clay, although he has reached big hardcourt finals in Australia and Miami.
Kyrgios defeats Nadal 6-2 7-5 in Cincinnati. Nadal's points total of 7,645 will be lowest held by a No 1 since new system introduced in 2009
— Stuart Fraser (@stu_fraser) August 19, 2017
Federer, meanwhile, has reached world No.3 – and No.2 in the ATP Race to London – on the strength of just eight tournaments. He lost his opening matches at two of them. And he was also absent from the entire claycourt swing.
The Race is perhaps more indicative of true standing in the game at this stage of the season; Murray, Djokovic and Wawrinka are still propped up in the 12-month rolling rankings by their excellent results during last year’s US Open and season-ending fall swing.
But according to the Race list, Djokovic and Murray are still in the top 10 – and in contention for London – despite by their standards fairly wretched seasons. Wawrinka is even higher in the Race, at No.5. Neither Djokovic or Wawrinka will appear in London, shutting down their seasons early to rehabilitate persistent injuries.
Kyrgios has had only 4 strong events in 8 months, hasn't passed the second round of a slam and this is his first final of the year. And yet: https://t.co/BYwpUoGa5O
— Tumaini Carayol (@tumcarayol) August 20, 2017
We break it down further, and ask the question – how can the following players be ranked as high as they are?
Tsonga's results at slams and M1000s this year: QF, 1R, 1R, 2R, 1R, 3R, 1R, 1R
— Tumaini Carayol (@tumcarayol) August 16, 2017
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