World rankings: a game of snakes and ladders?

Montreal, Roger’s Cup is in full swing and it started me thinking. Just as mothers should be able to return to their world ranking pre-pregnancy, should it not also be the case that those returning from injury or illness be given the same courtesy?

This week sees both Azarenka (95) and Kuznetsova (87) return to the top 100 and Safarova up one place (58). Serena was unable to play in Montreal due to issues related to giving birth last September. This is understandable. I think Serena has had a great come-back. Most players would be delighted with reaching the 4^th round at Roland Garros and being a finalist at Wimbledon! Kvitova certainly would! She is frustrated that Grand Slams are not going well for her. Maybe I shouldn’t bother playing them, she mused in a post-match interview. Hopefully, she will continue to play them and win but it shows how tough they can be for a player. This is despite Kvitova having had an excellent winning season. Again, as a result of sustaining serious injury while defending herself from a violent attacker, her success at Grand Slams has been halted.

Are we making it unnecessarily hard for players to have to continually backslide in their ranking through no fault of their own and time and again try to come back to where they were before injury or illness? All players will suffer from injuries. This is par for the course! Kuznetsova, a fantastic, solid player had surgery last year on her wrist. It didn’t go as easily as anticipated and she ended up having two surgeries on it. Even though she timed it for the off-season it didn’t heal in time. To then return to the tour at a lower ranking with a wrist that may or may not hold up to the strain of playing on tour is psychologically and physically draining. It is hard enough returning from injury without having to deal with extra pressures. After Wimbledon she dropped out of the top 100. She was clearly upset about this but now, a few weeks later, is clearly delighted to be back in the top 100! This shows what a great player she is. I hope she makes it to the Hall of Fame! However, the question remains. Should Kuznetsova have been put through the wringer like this with still a way to go before arriving back to where she was and should be, given her talent? It sets her back in terms of what she can achieve over the course of her career and possibly makes her think about retiring sooner than she would want to and certainly sooner than we want her to hang up her racquet. 

Illness is another case in point. It is also unavoidable. It just happens, as it did to Safarova this year. She didn’t plan to go sick in order to have time off! It’s been a great deal of hard work to return to fitness and be ready to play competitive tennis on tour. Safarova has thought about retiring having suffered serious, potentially life-threatening illnesses twice in the last three years! She’s only 31 years old, far too young to be thinking about retiring from the game. Safarova is an amazing player but rather overshadowed by Kvitova and Pliskova (Karolina). If a young player wants to learn how to be text book perfect, study Safarova. She is strong, quick, has good co-ordination/balance, doesn’t overturn, reliably accurate with an excellent serve. Her technique is faultless. Why hasn’t she won a Slam in the singles? Safarova’s excellent game has brought her well-earned Grand Slams in the doubles. In Montreal, Roger’s Cup she was playing in the qualifying rounds! This means that she has to play more rounds than she otherwise would. It’s also a heart-sinker to those in the qualifying rounds to see her name against theirs!

This applies to all players. It means that it’s harder to compare past players’ achievements with those on the tour now. By not allowing players to return to the world ranking they had before time-out (through injury (sport or otherwise) /illness/pregnancy/childbirth or having children through IVF/adoption and or through a custody battle) means they achieve less WTA titles and Grand Slams overall. Players’ sponsorship can also be affected if they drop below a certain ranking which can, in turn, affect their earnings.

These few examples, and there are others, makes it clear to me that the system needs changing back to what it used to be. Let players return to their world ranking after time off for reasons given above. The exception should be if the time off was dope-related. Otherwise, there’s no distinction between injury time off etc and testing positive. The player is penalized either way. That doesn’t feel right.

This return to their world ranking would benefit the top players and the lower ranked players who, having made it to, let’s say, 500 in the world must become very despondent when, through injury or illness or becoming a mother they drop off the world rankings and have to start over. It’s enough to make them want to give up which is not how they should be made to feel. We want to retain players not lose them, whatever their ranking. It’s good for spectators and fans who can’t wait to see their favourite players back on tour again! It’s also good for the game to retain players who are happy and positive in their career as athletes. This is particularly true when it comes to women athletes because women are still hesitant in wanting to pursue sport as a career.