It's now more than 13 months since COVID-19 brought the ATP and WTA tours, and much of the world, to a halt in March of 2020. That timing is particularly significant in the professional tennis world, as it means that events that were cancelled in 2020—including the entire spring clay-court swing and Wimbledon—are now being played for the first time in two years.
As a result, for the first time since the start of the pandemic suspension, player ranking points are now beginning to drop off on both tours.
Both the ATP and WTA introduced a modified ranking system when play resumed in August, with both tours eventually adopting a best-of-24-month system for tournaments from March 2019 through December 2020. In the case of events like the US Open, which were played in both 2019 and 2020, players were allowed to apply the better of their two results towards their ranking. For events like the Miami Open and Wimbledon, which were not held in 2020, the 2019 ranking points remained intact.
But now that the tours are circling back to the spring season, points earned 24 months ago, in 2019, are being phased out.
On the WTA Tour, points began dropping as of April 5, following the Miami Open. This meant that world No. 1 Ashleigh Barty's position was under threat in South Florida, where she was the defending champion from 2019. But the Aussie has thrived under that added pressure, defending her title in Miami and tightening her grip on the top spot with another trophy at the WTA 500 event in Stuttgart last week.
Read More: US Open Spotlight - Ashleigh Barty
It is a more gradual drop-off of ranking points for players on the ATP Tour, specifically in the case of events that were not played in 2020. In those cases, 2019 points can remain in play for an additional 52 weeks beyond the events' completion in 2021, but they will be weighted at 50%. The prime example here is Roger Federer, who won Miami and reached the final at Indian Wells in '19. Instead of 1,000 and 600 points, respectively, the Swiss now carries 500 and 300 points towards his rankings from those results. With those points cut in half, Federer has dropped to No. 8 in the ATP rankings as he continues to work his way back from knee surgery last June.
Both tours continue to work towards returning to the standard 52-week ranking system in the fairest way possible. For a more in-depth understanding of the current systems, check out the detailed explainers on both the ATP and WTA websites.
