Throughout his career, Rafael Nadal He has dealt with various types of injuries. Some required more recovery time and some less, but the seasons where he played all the tournaments he wanted were numbered. The 2023 season, in this sense, is perhaps the worst: after the 2023 Australian Open he has not yet returned.
This led to him losing his privileged position in the elite after almost 18 consecutive years in the top 10. On March 14, Nadal snapped that streak, and if he doesn’t end up playing at Roland Garros, as expected, he’ll break even more records. By failing to defend the 2,000 points he earned last year, the Spaniard will fall outside the top 100 where he is currently 14th.
All the details below.
Where would Nadal be without defending his Roland Garros title?
Rafael Nadal has been used to seeing close shots throughout his career, regularly ranking in the top three. However, without defending the 2,000 points he achieved in Paris 2022, the 22-time Grand Slam winner will be left with just 445 points and close to 135th rank.
So far in 2023, the Spaniard has not been able to defend 2,000 Australian Open points (he won 45 to reach the second round) nor 500 in Acapulco, 600 in Indian Wells, 180 in Madrid and 90 in Rome. Added to these is the aforementioned Roland Garros. To perform at Wimbledon may have to resort to a summons or resort to protected classification.
What is Protected Ranking and how does it work?
Ranking Protected, as the name suggests, “guards” an injured player’s place in the rankings. As explained by the ATP, it is determined by a player’s “average position in the first three months of their injury”. It will be available for the first nine tournaments the player competes in or for the nine month period. This would allow Rafa to play in all tournaments, even if he was not seeded.
If the injured player does not compete in any tournaments for a year, which is not yet the case for Nadal, the protected ranking is for the first 12 tournaments or the one-year period.
