Tennis legends Roger Federer and Serena Williams are both reportedly set to disappear from the world rankings, following the decision to scrap ranking points at Wimbledon. The ATP and WTA's decision to make the event non-ranking came after SW19 bosses banned Russian and Belarusian players from competing amid the war with Ukraine.
The ban is set to have large implications for a number of the sport’s biggest names, including men’s world No 2 Daniil Medvedev and women’s world No 7 Aryna Sabalenka. Their ranking position is set to be safe though despite not taking part due to the points removal.
Despite this two players who are reportedly set to feel the effects are stalwarts Federer and Williams, whose spot in the world rankings are set to disappear.
Both have not featured competitively on tour since last year’s event at SW19. Federer’s last outing came at the famous grass event, as he lost to Polish star Hubert Hurkacz in the quarter-final of the 2021 tournament 6-3, 7-6, 6-0.
The Swiss star has not featured since due to injury, and had surgery on a knee problem in August 2021. Williams meanwhile, also hasn’t featured since last year’s Wimbledon after the 40-year-old was forced to withdraw from her first round clash with Aliaksandra Sasnovich due to injury.
Federer is a massive doubt for Wimbledon this summer, but even if both were to somehow return, they would compete unranked. Ranking points on the ATP and WTA tours only last for a total of 52 weeks - according to Sports Illustrated .
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And, as well as the decision to scrap ranking points from the 2022 Wimbledon event, all points earned at last year’s tournament have also been wiped. This means the legendary duo will not have earned any ranking points over the 52 weeks, and therefore in turn lose their spots in the rankings.
The only way Federer and Williams are able to ensure they remain in the rankings is to compete at a tour event prior to the SW19 tournament, but neither have confirmed any plans to do so. Following the scrapping of the ranking points, Wimbledon chiefs admitted that they were ‘deeply disappointed’.
In a statement The All England Lawn Tennis Club said: "We therefore wish to state our deep disappointment at the decisions taken by the ATP, WTA and ITF in removing ranking points for the championships.
"We believe these decisions to be disproportionate in the context of the exceptional and extreme circumstances of this situation and the position we found ourselves in, and damaging to all players who compete on tour. We are considering our options, and we are reserving our position at this stage. We are also in discussion with our Grand Slam colleagues."
