Former Australia tennis pro Casey Dellacqua has addressed the WTA and ATP’s “difficult” decision to scrap ranking points at this year’s Wimbledon championship.
Tennis’ governing bodies announced the joint ruling on Friday – which will see no player have points earned at Wimbledon added to their singles ranking – in response to the All England Club’s blanket ban on players from Russia and Belarus following the invasion of Ukraine.
Speaking on Nine’s Sport Sunday, Dellecqua – who now works in player relations at Tennis Australia – explained how the absence of ranking points will punish some players.
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“It’s a difficult one because there probably are a lot of players that would be in consultation with the tours, but there would be a lot of players that wouldn’t be happy with this decision because they’re therefore going to Wimbledon really playing for the prestige of playing at Wimbledon and not for ranking points,” she said.
“Ranking points determine a player’s trajectory in terms of where they’re heading, how they get into the next tournament, maybe where they’re seeded.
“It will affect someone like a Novak (Djokovic)… Novak for example, the defending champion, will lose 2000 points and that will probably have an effect on his world No.1 ranking.
“There’s a lot to play out.”
Another player that will be severely impacted by the points ban will include Australia’s highest-ranked female, Ajla Tomljanovic.
After working hard to earn a career-high ranking of 38 earlier this year, Tomljanovic is concerned the erasing of points will cause her to tumble back down the rankings.
“I don’t think they’ll carry over the points earned from 2021, they’ll get wiped and then you don’t have a chance to defend your points. That’s very unfair, in my opinion,” she told AAP.
“It’s going to be very strange to go to Wimbledon where no points will be on offer.”
The WTA’s live standings currently have Tomljanovic ranked 42nd, but on the current projections, she could plummet to 85th.
The 29-year-old reached the Wimbledon quarter-finals last year in the finest performance of her career as she beat Britain’s US Open champion-to-be Emma Raducanu, picking up a career-high 430 points.
With her total live points tallying 1216 – her previous takings at Wimbledon make up more than a third of her share.
Despite the blow, Tomljanovic is adamant she would never boycott a points-free Wimbledon.
“Sometimes unfair things happen and you’ve just got to roll with the punches,” she said.
“I wouldn’t miss it for the world.
“Wimbledon is Wimbledon – and if you win it and get no points, of course you’d still take it.
“But I’m definitely going into that small bracket of players who are going to be really effected – but it’s out of my control, so I’ve just got to try to do well regardless of that.”
With over a month still to go before the world’s oldest slam kicks off on June 27, Dellacqua said it is still possible that new arrangements could be agreed on.
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“Everyone is still in talks with each other, so the tours are still in talks with Wimbledon,” she said.
But for now, the tennis world’s attention turns to Roland-Garros with competition starting on Sunday night. There are no sanctions being imposed for the event and full ranking points will be on offer.
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