The Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) has announced a six-week suspension of the men’s tour due to the global outbreak coronavirus. The suspension comes in the aftermath of the state of a pandemic as declared by WHO. The six-weeks adjournment means no ATP Tour and ATP Challenger Tour events will take place until April 27.
The Miami Open, the ATP 250 event in Houston, Marrakech and Budapest, the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters and the Barcelona Open are the tournaments which have been called off. However, with this decision, the question arises: whether the ATP will freeze the rankings or not?
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“It represents a great loss”: Gaudenzi
The suspension follows the restrictions and bans from various governments around the world, especially at the tournament’s location. The United States has announced a 30-day travel restriction for foreign nationals from 26 European countries. Furthermore, the European governments have announced increased restrictions on large events.
Italy is not allowing travel except for work and health purposes until next month. On the other hand, France has banned events involving a gathering of more than 1,000 people.
“This is not a decision that was taken lightly and it represents a great loss for our tournaments, players, and fans worldwide,” ATP chairman, Andrea Gaudenzi said.
However, he explained that ATP took this action in order to “protect the health and safety of our players, staff, the wider tennis community and general public health in the face of this global pandemic.”
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Will ATP hold the rankings for six-weeks?
According to the atptour.com, the association is analysing the impact of the suspension on ATP Rankings points. They will soon announce the decision on the ranking points. While the FedEx ATP Rankings points will not be available at any ITF World Tennis Tour events during the suspension period.
If the rankings do not freeze then some players will drop in the rankings before suspension period is over. The impact will be greater for some players. While Fabio Fognini will leave the top 20, Dusan Lajovic, John Isner and Borna Coric might drop to over top 40. On the other hand, Frances Tiafoe will leave the Top 100.
Will the ATP hold the rankings? It’s difficult to predict for now, but we hope that the association take a decision in everyone’s best interest.
