US Open runner-up Alexander Zverev has taken aim at the ATP world rankings, labelling the present system a "disaster" and questioning why he is ranked behind Roger Federer.
Federer made his return from knee surgery in Doha last week, beating Daniel Evans in his first match, but going down to Nikoloz Basilashvili in the quarter-finals.
Despite his long absence, the 20-time Grand Slam champion remains at No.6 in the world rankings, one spot ahead of Zverev.
That's despite Zverev making the final of the US Open and the final of the Paris Masters in recent months.
"The ranking doesn't really matter to me and with the system we have now, I should be top four (or) top five in the world in the normal system, but the system we have now is a bit absurd," Zverev said.
"I am the biggest Roger Federer fan but he has not played for a year and he is higher ranked than me. I played a Grand Slam final (and) a Masters 1000 final. The system is just a disaster."
The ATP froze the rankings during 2020 as the tour was forced into hiatus during the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic.
A modified system was announced in mid-2020 taking into account the players' best results over a 24-month period rather than the standard 52-week rolling window. The modified system has allowed Federer to retain 500 ranking points from the 2019 Miami Masters, despite skipping this year's tournament, beginning later this month.
If the traditional, pre-COVID rankings system was currently in use, Zverev would be ranked sixth (behind Novak Djokovic, Daniil Medvedev, Andrey Rublev, Dominic Thiem and Rafael Nadal), while Federer would be outside the top 200.
Federer is not the only player who is ranked higher than would otherwise be the case under the old rankings system. Former Australian Open runner-up Jo Wilfried Tsonga has won only one match since late-2019. Despite this, he remains at 66 in the rankings.
Former Australian Davis Cup player Sam Groth argued recently that the ATP should stop tinkering with the rankings formula.
"If you're going to change the ranking system, then change it for good," Groth told Wide World of Sports earlier this month.
"Don't just keep making adjustments as we go.
"It's going to help those at the top echelon stay there. That's who this change is protecting."
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