Tennis

What is Protected Ranking and how does it work? All the details of one of the rules of the tennis world

Published

3 years ago

May 18, 2023

Annie

What is Protected Ranking and how does it work? All the details of one of the rules of the tennis world

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Sports offers victories, defeats, joys and disappointments. And also injuries. There is no athlete who has participated at the highest level who has avoided injury. Even if you don’t want it, physical discomfort is part of the struggle and you have to know how to live with it. Overcoming them is sometimes more difficult than any opponent.

Being a sport that is contested on an almost daily basis, tennis sees all kinds of injuries. For this reason, the ATP and WTA have a tool called “protected rank” which helps tennis players when they have an accident.

All the details below.

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 men’s and women’s business circles, the “average position of a player in the first three months of his injury” is determined.. It will be available for the first nine tournaments the player competes in or for the nine month period.

If the injured player does not compete in any tournament for a year, the protected ranking is for the first 12 tournaments or for the period of one year. Pregnancy on the WTA circuit also falls under this rule.

The downside of “protected ranking” is that the player cannot detach even if his position allows it. If a top 10 player gets injured and uses this tool, they won’t be able to skip rounds and luck could instantly put them against the best.

It is worth clarifying that the best usually do not use PR (protected ranking in English), but receive invitations/wildcards from tournaments. A WC player can be seeded. Although the difference may seem small, it is crucial.

Author:

Mauro Mariani

Source: Sporting News

Annie

I am Annie Mcadams, a news author at Sportish. I specialize in covering different sections of sports and have been writing for the past five years. My passion lies in uncovering new stories that are informative, interesting and captivating to the audience. I have a knack for finding the right sources who can provide reliable insight on trending topics.

Tennis

Veterans Cilic and Wawrinka reached the 1/16 final at the Aus Open. Djokovic’s reaction

Published

2 hours ago

January 22, 2026

Nancy

Veterans Cilic and Wawrinka reached the 1/16 final at the Aus Open. Djokovic’s reaction

37-year-old Croatian tennis player Marin Cilic (ATP 70) and a 40-year-old Swiss Stan Wawrinka Reached the 1/16 final at the 2026 Australian Open.

Cilic defeated 21st seed Denis Shapovalov (Canada, ATP 23) in three sets in 2 hours and 10 minutes.

Marin started the Australian Open with a win over Daniel Altmaier. His next opponent will be Casper Ruud, who is ranked 13th in the ATP rankings.

Cilic achieved his 599th career win at the ATP level, equaling Goran Ivanisevic for the most wins by a Croatian tennis player in the Open era.

Australian Open 2026. 1/32 final

Denis Shapovalov (Canada) [21] – Marin Cilic (Croatia) – 4:6, 3:6, 2:6

Wawrinka, who is in the final season of his career, won in 4 hours and 33 minutes in a five-set thriller against Arthur Gea (France, ATP 198) in the second round of the Aus Open. This fight is the longest fight in slam so far.

This match marked the 49th five-setter match of Stan’s career in Grand Slam tournaments; He surpassed Roger Federer (48) and became the sole owner of the Open Era record in this indicator.

Since the introduction of the 128-player draw across the four Grand Slams in 1987, Wawrinka became the oldest player to achieve multiple wins at a single major, at 40 years and 296 days.

Stan started AO-2026 with a victory over Laszlo Gyore. His next opponent will be world number 9 Taylor Fritz.

Australian Open 2026. 1/32 final

Arthur Hea (France) [Q] – Stan Wawrinka (Switzerland) [WC] – 6:4, 3:6, 6:3, 5:7, 6:7 (3:10)

Besides Cilic and Wawrinka, 38-year-old Novak Djokovic from Serbia also qualified for the 1/16 final at the Aus Open on January 22. After the end of the match day, Novak published a post in his story with the match result and Marin and Stan’s results and signed:

“There is no coup without the old man” translated from Serbian means: “There is no coup without the old man.”

Source: Sport UA

Nancy

I am a sports journalist who has worked in print and online. I have authored articles for a sports website and have covered sports news for over 6 years.

Tennis

The first big sensation occurred in the Australian Open 2026 women’s draw

Published

3 hours ago

January 22, 2026

Nancy

The first big sensation occurred in the Australian Open 2026 women’s draw

Swiss tennis player Belinda Bencic (WTA 10) was sensationally eliminated from the 2026 Australian Open.

In the second round, Switzerland was defeated by the Czech Republic representative in three sets. Nikola Bartunkova (WTA 126) in 2 hours 13 minutes.

Australian Open 2026. 1/32 final

Nikola Bartunkova (Czech Republic) – Belinda Bencic (Switzerland) [10] – 6:3, 0:6, 6:4

Bartunkova and Bencic played each other for the first time.

Belinda lost her first match of 2026. She started the season in the United Cup, where she defeated Iga Swiatek and Jasmine Paolini, among others.

19-year-old Nicola started the Aus Open with the qualifiers. In the first round of the main draw, Bartunkova will compete with Elise Merets after eliminating Daria Kasatkina.

For the first time in her career, Bartunkova beat a tennis player in the top 10 of the WTA rankings. This was also the first defeat of a tennis player ranked in the top 10 at the Australian Open.

Source: Sport UA

Nancy

I am a sports journalist who has worked in print and online. I have authored articles for a sports website and have covered sports news for over 6 years.

Tennis

Australian Open Denis Shapovalov loses in second round

Published

4 hours ago

January 22, 2026

Nancy

Australian Open Denis Shapovalov loses in second round

(Melbourne) Denis Shapovalov lost sharply 6-4, 6-3 and 6-2 to Marin Cilic in the second round of the Australian Open tennis tournament on Thursday.

Shapovalov, the 21^e seeded in the tournament, fell to the Croatian, who was finalist at Melbourne Park in 2018, thus leveling the record between the two tennis players at 3-3 in their careers.

As for Cilic, who is 37 years old, he reached the third round of the first major tournament of the season for the first time since 2022. He will face the winner of the duel between the Spaniard Jaume Munar and the Norwegian Casper Ruud, 12^e seeded.

The Canadian did not seem to be in his right mood during his match against Cilic. He was notably limited to 12 winning shots, committed 42 unforced errors, and seven double faults during their match.

Moreover, Shapovalov was very generous towards his opponent, 70^e world racket. He conceded six breaks in 12 chances to Cilic, the 2014 U.S. Open winner, and converted only two of his six break points.

For the 26-year-old Ontarian, it was a fourth defeat in his last five matches.

There is therefore only one representative of the maple leaf left in the singles tables of the Australian Open: Victoria Mboko.

The Ontarian, the 17^e seeded, will face the Danish Clara Tauson, 14^e seeded, in the third round in the evening on Thursday.

Her compatriot, the Ontarian Gabriela Dabrowski, and her Brazilian playing partner, Luisa Stefani, will play their second round doubles match against the French Elsa Jacquemot and the Colombian Emiliana Arango, in the evening.

Source: lapresse

Nancy

I am a sports journalist who has worked in print and online. I have authored articles for a sports website and have covered sports news for over 6 years.