The clay court season is almost over. Especially Rafael Nadal, Alexander Zverev and Dominic Thiem have made the most of the past weeks.
Guy Forget, Roland Garros’ tournament director, of course had to be cautious in his assessment: Of course it is a pity, according to Forget, that Roger Federer will not be serving in Paris once again, but he very much hopes that the Swiss will once again actively attend the second Grand Slam tournament of the year.
As in 2017, Federer will receive exactly zero points on sand in the annual ranking and the regular ATP world ranking. There are only meters that were achieved on hard courts, lawns and in the hall.
Federer is not the only one to take time out – even if the 20-time major winner is the one who communicates this offensively.
Rafael Nadal, for example, the leader in both categories, scored exactly 5040 points in 2018 – only 360 of which Nadal earned away from Terre Battue. Namely at the Australian Open, where the Spaniard had to give up against Marin Cilic in the quarter-finals.
Dominic Thiem has been awarded 405 points for his bets in Doha (dropped off the ATP charts), Melbourne, Acapulco and Indian Wells. But more than 2,600 points for his successful performances on clay, including his two successes in Lyon and Buenos Aires.
Marin Cilic’s balance is quite balanced with 845 points on sand, 1495 on other surfaces. Juan Martin del Potro has only shown up on ashes twice, but with the semi-final entry in Paris and the round of 16 in Rome more than a quarter of his 3020 points on the red underground.
880 points on hard court, 2570 points on sand, 45 in the hall: after all these are the values of Alexander Zverev, who hefted the German to second place in the Race to London. Good arguments for the fact that Zverev has become the best all-round player on the ATP tour alongside Marin Cilic.
Proof of this: Zverev reached the final on hard court in Miami (defeat against John Isner), then won his third Masters 1000 title against Dominic Thiem in Madrid and only narrowly lost to Rafael Nadal in the final in Rome. No other player can boast three final participations in the second highest tournament category in 2018.