Jon Wertheim has revealed that the biggest fight that Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer ever had was over a proposed change to the ATP\u2019s ranking system.<\/p>\n
Despite their fierce on-court battles, Federer and Nadal<\/a> were known for maintaining a respectful relationship away from competition, becoming closer as the years went by.<\/p>\n The disagreement centred on the ATP rankings system, a topic that has long divided opinion among players. The structure plays a crucial role in scheduling, seeding, and overall career progression.<\/p>\n At the time, there were discussions about potentially changing the system from a 12-month rolling format to a longer-term model, a shift which would have had significant implications across the tour.<\/p>\n Currently, players \u2018defend\u2019 points from their results 12 months prior, meaning that \u2013 if they don\u2019t do as well \u2013 they drop down the rankings.<\/p>\n \u201cThe biggest fight I think [Roger] Federer and [Rafael] Nadal ever had, one of their few disputes, was when Rafa and his camp were trying to lobby for a two-year rolling ranking,\u201d he said whilst speaking on the Served with Andy Roddick podcast.<\/p>\n \u201cWhether that was because of injuries or because there were additional points\u2026<\/p>\n \u201cIt is a little confusing to the casual fan, seeing he got to the final, why would his ranking drop. And then sometimes you say, \u2018That guy lost in the second round, how can his ranking go up?\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cAlso, the thing with a rolling ranking over 52 weeks is that it\u2019s a nice way to make sure that players re-enter the tournament they won the previous year.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a nice way for tournaments to make sure the defending champion doesn\u2019t beg off, and they can build a bit of brand equity.<\/p>\n \u201cI think overall it\u2019s fair. Yes, there are some counterintuitive results sometimes.<\/p>\n \u201cPete Sampras finished year-end number one six years in a row, which I think is an underrated record of his, because it\u2019s wire to wire.<\/p>\n \u201cSinner did not play Madrid last year, so he doesn\u2019t have to win the tournament, and his ranking will go up.<\/p>\n \u201cI think on balance, I can\u2019t imagine a better system overall.\u201d<\/p>\n Stefanos Tsitsipas reveals \u2018not easy\u2019 schedule shakeup as he falls outside of the world\u2019s top 75<\/a><\/p>\n Carlos Alcaraz told he has \u2018improved very little\u2019 in harsh verdict from Grand Slam winner<\/a><\/p>\n As the long-time tennis commentator mentioned, Nadal had a unique insight into the challenges of a 12-month ranking system, given his long injury record.<\/p>\n Over his career, the Spaniard was forced to miss 18 Grand Slams due to physical discomfort, 15 more than rival Novak Djokovic.<\/p>\n In 2017, after an injury-plagued 2016 season, Nadal had risen back up to the world No 1 spot, but argued that the ranking system should consider results completed over 24 months, rather than 12.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve said in the past it [the schedule] didn\u2019t work, but it will be better to have a ranking for two years,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cTwo-year ranking, not one-year ranking. That\u2019s going to protect the players and help the players to have periods to find windows for rest.<\/p>\n \u201cHaving a one-year ranking, it\u2019s always that if you want to be in a good position in the ranking, you cannot rest much.\u201d<\/p>\n For example, an injured player may not be as likely to participate in a tournament, when injured, if their most recent result still stood for another 12 months.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, six years prior to the Spaniard\u2019s comment, Federer had warned against any change to the rankings system \u2013 arguing that it would make it harder for any lower-ranked players to make a breakthrough.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not a big fan of it, just because I think it would make things rather boring, but that\u2019s my personal opinion,\u201d he commented.<\/p>\n \u201cOther than that, as the president of the player council, I think it\u2019s not a good thing for the lower-ranked players.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s going to be a struggle for them to make a big breakthrough; it\u2019s going to take them multiple breakthroughs, so the dream of having one great tournament and making a move, in my opinion, is never going to happen.<\/p>\n \u201cIf we had a two-year ranking, things would be so slow, and nothing would really move.<\/p>\n \u201cI can\u2019t support it as the president of the player council. I have to look at all the players in the eye.<\/p>\n \u201cI know it could be a good thing for me, or Rafa, or other good players, because for us to move down in the rankings, it would take something extraordinary, but for the lower-ranked players, I don\u2019t think it would be a good thing, and that\u2019s why I can\u2019t support it.\u201d<\/p>\n The post Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer\u2019s \u2018biggest fight\u2019 finally disclosed by tennis expert<\/a> appeared first on Tennis365<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Jon Wertheim has revealed that the biggest fight that Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer ever had was over a proposed change to the ATP\u2019s ranking system. Despite their fierce on-court battles, Federer and Nadal were known for maintaining a respectful relationship away from competition, becoming closer as the years went by. The disagreement centred on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2035","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2035","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2035"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2035\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2035"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2035"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2035"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Latest Tennis News<\/h2>\n