Sunday, August 06, 2000
New rankings system aims to be fan friendly
By Michael Perry
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Magnus Norman is No. 1 in the ATP Tour Champions Race. Andre Agassi is No. 1 in the ATP Tour Entry System. By the end of the tennis season, the player at the top of each list should be the same — and be crowned No. 1 for 2000.
“In the beginning I was a little bit skeptical,” Norman said. “ ... But I think it is going to be more and more interesting every week.”
This is the first year for the ATP Tour's points race, which tennis officials believe will be easier for fans to follow than the previous ranking system — which was based on a player's best 14 results from the previous 52 weeks.
For example, some fans may have had a hard time grasping how Yevgeny Kafelnikov remained No. 1 in the world for a stretch during 1999 despite losing in the first round six straight times.
“We have done a lot of research,” ATP Tour CEO Mark Miles said last December. “The public is totally baffled by our current ranking system. ... The race is different from the ranking. We are absolutely convinced that it is going to work and will be powerful for the public.”
Starting last January, all players started with zero points. Pete Sampras was even with, say, his Wimbledon semifinal opponent Vladimir Voltchkov.
Points are awarded for each tournament, weighted toward the Grand Slams (200 points for the winner). Winners of Masters Series events — of which Cincinnati is one — get 100 points, and International Series event winners receive between 35 and 60 points. Each player can use points from his best five International Series results.
Players ranked high enough are required to play in Slams and Tennis Masters events or they receive zero points. The Tour wants to ensure the best players will compete in the elite tournaments.
“Once we have finished this year, everyone will understand it,” Alex Corretja said of the system.
Michael Chang and Greg Rusedski are among the players who have been critical of the new system. Sampras, Todd Martin, Mark Philippoussis and Andre Agassi have been among the supporters.
“I think it's important that the public understands the rankings and which tournaments have the most importance,” Agassi said. “The new race will allow both those things to happen.”
An ATP Tour Entry System list also exists but is not heavily publicized. That is basically the old ranking system and is used to seed players at individual events.
There was more general confusion at the beginning. It didn't help that newspapers, such as USA Today, ran the Entry System list early in the year and referred to it as rankings.
However, players and fans appear to be getting more used to the Champions Race.
“Some players like it more; some players like it less,” Norman said. “It is always going to be like that. Everybody can't be 100 percent happy with it. But as far as I know, all the players ... like it, and I think it is a fair system, as well. If you play good tennis, you get rewarded for it.”
LEADERS OF THE PACK
Weeks leading the ATP Tour Champions Race:
Andre Agassi11
Magnus Norman 7
Yevgeny Kafelnikov 4
Gustavo Kuerten 5
Lleyton Hewitt 2
Fabrice Santoro 1
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