Latest UTR ratings without Novak Djokovic make for interesting reading

Abraham Smith


Novak Djokovic in action

Novak Djokovic is missing the Indian Wells Masters event due to his Covid vaccine status and there’s a chance his absence could cost him his world No. 1 status.

While 22-time Grand Slam champion Djokovic hopes to be granted a dispensation to attend the Miami Open later this month, America’s insistence that all visitors must be vaccinated against Covid seems likely, with Serbs also likely from the Florida exclude tournament.

This gives him a chance to compete with his rivals for 2,000 world ranking points that he cannot collect and it could affect his ranking.

Carlos Alcaraz has a lot of points to defend against Indian Wells and Miami last year. His win in the second of those two events ensures he has a difficult task of overtaking Djokovic in the next two events.

Yet Daniil Medvedev, Stefanos Tsitsipas and in-form Andrey Rublev will all be looking to get close to the world No. 1 with the current leaders locked out of American swing.

Now Universal Tennis made a new ranking without Djokovic and they suggest that the second best player in the world right now is Medvedev.

The Russian has won his last three tournaments and beat Djokovic in Dubai earlier this month, suggesting he is returning to the form that helped him win the 2021 US Open.

Medvedev could be the man to beat in Indian Wells and Miami and if he won both events, as he is only defending 225 points from those two events in 2022.

Danish youngster Holger Rune is next in the UTR rating list, with Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime in UTR’s top three list.

Casper Ruud is ranked 4th in the current ATP rankings, but has dropped to 10th in the UTR rankings.

An updated list of the top ten WTA players has also been released, with Iga Swiatek being the undisputed No. 1 in the world.

Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina is higher on this list than in the WTA rankings, with the 2,000 points she could have gained after her win at the All England Club last summer affecting her current official standings.

Victoria Azarenka is another notable name in the UTR top ten as she sits 14th in the latest WTA rankings.

With the tennis ranking system in chaos after Djokovic was denied entry into a multitude of tournaments in 2022 and Wimbledon had no offer for ranking points after their decision to ban Russian and Belarusian players resulted in the ATP and the WTA stripped the event of ranking points.

The true reflection of the tennis standings may not become clear until after this year’s US Open, when Djokovic will return to playing a full-time schedule and the points missing since 2022 will all be restored.

Until then, Universal Tennis’s rankings can more reliably reflect the game’s current pecking order.

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