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Nick Kyrgios has the biggest match of his life on Sunday night (AEST) — but his performance is set to be wiped from existence on the ATP Tour rankings.
The Aussie has emerged as one of the biggest losers in the ongoing power struggle between Wimbledon and the ATP Tour and the WTA Tour after rankings points for the tournament were sensationally stripped in May.
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ULTIMATE GUIDE: What’s at stake in epic Wimbledon decider
Wimbledon famously banned Russian and Belarusian players from competing in the tournament following the invasion of Ukraine. The professional tours responded by stripping ranking points and reducing tennis’ most prestigious tournament to exhibition status.
To make matters even worse for players, they have not been given a chance to defend the ranking points they earned at the 2021 tournament.
It caused uproar when first announced — and the anger has only grown as the tournament heads into the men’s singles and ladies’ singles finals.
The 2000 points for winning the grand slam — and 1200 points as the runner up — would have put Kyrgios back in the top 20 and would have put him back on track to chase a spot in the year-ending ATP Tour finals event.
Instead, win, lose or draw, he will be the world No. 40 come Monday morning.
It is just as painful for Djokovic, who will drop to No. 7 on the live rankings when they are officially updated next week.
The Times’ tennis correspondent Stuart Fraser said on Saturday the ATP Tour “shafted” itself.
“Novak Djokovic could win Wimbledon on Sunday and drop from No 3 to No 7 in the world rankings. Madness,” he wrote on Twitter.
“I mean, the ATP really have shafted themselves with this ludicrous decision. Nick Kyrgios would be a great (and arguably a much-needed) addition to the ATP Finals field but he’ll remain at No 37 in the Race to Turin after this fortnight.
British tennis player Jonny O’Mara, who competed in the mixed doubles and men’s doubles, wrote on Twitter it is “f***ing madness”.
The debate seems destined to roll on for the foreseeable future.
It has been a subject of topic of conversation throughout the tournament with some players admitting they have had issues with anxiety surrounding rankings points — and losing all their Wimbledon points.
Ons Jabeur said ahead of the women’s final on Saturday night she felt sorry for some of the women in the field who have missed out on a massive rankings spike.
“I’m not going to lie to you. The more you do good, the more you regret not getting any points,” she said, according to AP.
“I don’t just look at myself, but I also look at Tatjana (Maria). Now she makes a good run, and she doesn’t have points.”
Djokovic has also previously criticised Wimbledon’s ban and the ATP Tour’s response.
The Serb is into the Wimbledon final for the eighth time.
Kyrgios is into the first grand slam final of his career at the age of 27.
The pair have been involved in a war of words several times in their careers, but they spoke with respect for one another following their semi-final wins.
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