Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Dominic Thiem Way Down in Race for ATP Finals 2021

Published 04/05/2021, 10:30 AM EDT

It’s hard to imagine an ATP Finals draw without Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, and Dominic Thiem, but such could realistically be the case at the elite season-ender this year.

As the players stand right now on the basis of their rankings points accrued this year, Federer, Nadal, and Thiem, who make the cream of contemporary men’s tennis alongside current World No. 1 Novak Djokovic, currently have no hope of sealing qualifying places for the prestigious event.

Nadal, Thiem, and Federer nowhere near the Top-20 in terms of ranking points accrued this year

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The tournament features the Top-8 in singles and doubles in a week-long slugfest to be the best of the best.

Nadal, Federer, and Thiem are nowhere in the Top-20 in terms of their current ranking points and will struggle to make the main draw at the Finals if their places hold. However, that could change as they could jump the queue with more match wins and titles at upcoming tournaments.

While the Spaniard is currently at the 28th place with just 360 ranking points, the Austrian World No. 4 lies at 36th with 275 points.

Rafael Nadal hasn’t played any Tour events since the Australian Open

Nadal reached the semifinals of this year’s Australian Open but hasn’t featured in any other Tour events this year. He skipped Doha, Dubai, as well as Miami to rest his sore back and will return at Monte Carlo, which will herald the clay-court swing.

The Spaniard has already enlisted his participation at all the clay-court events leading up to his title-defense at Roland-Garros.

Thiem fell in the pre-quarters of the Australian Open this year and followed up with two early exits in Doha and Dubai. Citing a need to “reset” after a string of underwhelming performances, the 27-year-old Austrian pulled out of Miami Open.

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Thiem also released a statement saying he will not travel to Monte Carlo this year as he is not yet ready to compete.

Federer, who returned to competitive action after a 14-month absence at Doha, only to bow out in the quarters, is currently at the 200th place with just 45 ranking points. He would hope to make solid ground at Halle and Wimbledon in the hope of sealing a qualifying spot at an event he has won six times.

The season-ender event will be staged in Rome from this year.

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Rafael Nadal, Dominic Thiem, and Roger Federer Absent From the Top-8 for the Race to ATP Finals 2021

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Priyabrata Chowdhury is a tennis author for EssentiallySports. He has been a print journalist for a decade, producing news pages for leading national dailies such as the Hindustan Times and The New Indian Express. His passion for sports eventually drove him to tennis writing.

Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Dominic Thiem Way Down in Race for ATP Finals 2021

Nadal, Thiem, and Federer nowhere near the Top-20 in terms of ranking points accrued this year

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Rafael Nadal hasn’t played any Tour events since the Australian Open