For the first time in 25 years (!) there are no Roger Federer and Serena Williams in the world rankings, and that’s right The battlefield after Wimbledon | Tennis

Small battlefield, this world ranking after Wimbledon. The counter-measure of the ATP and WTA players, by (Belarus) banning Russian players from the major grass tournament, and not awarding points to a few casualties. Especially since the points of the 2019 release, although halved but still frozen for three years, are only now deducted from everyone’s account.

The most unlucky person was undoubtedly Novak Djokovic who though His fourth consecutive title in London He saw himself dropping from third to seventh. David Goffin (ATP 71) did that too Quarter-finals It was fine three years ago, but it was still less than thirteen places. Winner Elena Rybakina (WTA 23), the world’s sixth default number, was also severely disadvantaged. Naturally, others have benefited from all of these shifts. For example, Alison van Uytvanck (WTA 39) is today in only two places of her best-ever rating.

On the margins of all those turmoil, there were two important milestones to be regretted. For the first time since 1997, Roger Federer and Serena Williams are no longer in the ratings. The Swiss, who turns 41 in a month, has not played a match since Wimbledon last year due to two knee surgeries, while the American, who turned 41 in two months, lost her first ‘championships’ role, her first since Wimbledon 2021. .

On September 22, 1997, Federer debuted in the world rankings after winning a few matches at the ITF tournaments in Switzerland. Williams started on October 22 of the same year, and after some victories in the qualifying rounds for some of the WTA tournaments, he finished ranked 448th in the world at the Kremlin Cup in Moscow. A quarter of a century and respectively 1,556 and 1,008 games later, they may have disappeared permanently from the rankings. Although Federer still wants to take part in his home championship in Basel at the end of this year, Williams is even aiming for the USOpen. Could there be a wildcard for these unranked players after all?