Tennis pundits and coaches urge ATP to honour Djokovic's number 1 status amid Coronavirus suspension
Tennis News
The Coronavirus pandemic has lead both the ATP and WTA Tours to suspend the Tour until at least June and as a result it was announced after previous doubts that the ranking system would be frozen but that could affect Novak Djokovic.
It is unclear how his weeks at the top of the rankings will play out especially with him being on the verge of overtaking Pete Sampras' total of 286 weeks in second as well as Federer's 310 weeks in number one.
Brad Gilbert spoke to ESPN and admitted that he should be credited as he was always going to continue past Indian Wells anyway.
“He earned the ranking, and he was going to be No.1 for a while even if things went on as normal.” said Gilbert.
“Going into Indian Wells, Djokovic was going to stay No.1 by the end, unless he lost before the semis and Rafa won the tournament.”
Darren Cahill, coach of Simona Halep echoed the same view and said that it should be similar for WTA Number 1, Ashleigh Barty.
“[Djokovic should get that credit] until the next major, and then I’m a bit unsure of what is the right thing to do,” Cahill said.
“These weeks he would have retained the No. 1. The same goes for [Ashleigh] Barty.”
Samuel GillEditor-in-Chief
Samuel Gill is the Chief Content Officer (CCO) of TennisUpToDate.com, a role he has held since 2020. He is responsible for editorial governance across the platform, including setting content standards, overseeing accuracy and consistency, and guiding long-term editorial strategy. Since joining, he has contributed more than 10,000 articles and editorial pieces across the TennisUpToDate network, playing a central role in the daily operation and development of the site.
Based in Leicester, Samuel has a broad background in tennis media. In his current role, he works closely with editors and writers to ensure coverage meets clear journalistic standards, with particular attention to verification, consistency, and timely updates when new information becomes available.
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