Andy Murray spoke out against a loophole that could keep him out of this year’s ATP World Tour finals even if he ends up finishing ranked among the tour’s top eight players.
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“If the ATP want their tournaments to be the most important tournaments, which I think they do – it’s the ATP World Tour Finals – you would hope that the players who would get in would be those who accumulate the most points across the whole year on the ATP tour,” Murray said, according to the Independent. “But by putting the Grand Slam champions in then they would be saying the Grand Slams are the most important events.”
The ATP rewards Grand Slam winners with an easy-in, provided they finish outside of the top 7 but inside the top 20. Here is what the rulebook says:
If there is one current-year Grand Slam champion positioned between eighth and 20th in the Race, he qualifies in eighth place. If there are two current-year Grand Slam champions positioned between eighth and 20th, the highest-ranked of those players becomes the eighth and final qualifier; the lower-ranked Grand Slam champion will serve as the alternate.
What it means is that, provided that Stan Wawrinka finishes in the top seven, Murray could get knocked from qualification even if he finishes eighth--if Marin Cilic finishes behind him.
“I’m not saying that’s wrong,” Murray said of the rule. “I’ve put a lot of my time and effort and training into getting prepared for the Grand Slams and playing the best-of-five-set matches. They mean a lot to all the players. If Marin was to get in placed ninth, he would deserve to be there. Winning the US Open is a great achievement.
“But if you want to protect your own tour, then you need to make sure that the tournaments that we are playing throughout the whole year are seen as being just as important as the other ones.”
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