Monday sees the end of a 46-year streak in which at least one Swiss player has always been among the top 100 in the world tennis rankings. Heinz Günthardt explains in an interview why this is only half the truth.
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- For the first time since 1978, neither a Swiss woman nor a Swiss man is among the top 100 tennis players in the world.
- But that’s only half the truth, as Heinz Günthardt explains in an interview with blue Sport: “We have two in the top 100 – but with a so-called protected ranking.”
- Günthardt is confident that things will pick up again from a Swiss perspective in the coming season. At the same time, he warns against expecting too much.
Switzerland has always been in the top 100 of both tennis world rankings for 46 years. Most recently, Viktorija Golubic and Alexander Ritschard have been flying the Swiss flag. But that came to an end on Monday: both Golubic and Ritschard lost points and dropped out of the top 100 in the newly published world rankings.
For the first time since February 13, 1978, when Heinz Günthardt broke into the top 100 for the first time, no Swiss is among the top 100 players in the official rankings. A streak of over 46 years has been broken. Or has it?
“That’s only partly true. We have two in the top 100 – but with a so-called protected ranking. These are Belinda Bencic and Dominic Stricker,” clarifies Heinz Günthardt in an interview with blue Sport.
Bencic and Stricker in the top 100 thanks to the protected ranking
The Protected Ranking enables players who have been out of action for six months or more to protect their position in the ranking – so that they do not re-enter the tournament with a much worse position. “Bencic is ranked 15th in the Protected Ranking and therefore still number 15 in the world. She is not officially listed because she is not playing at the moment,” explains Günthardt. Stricker, who can also fall back on the Protected Ranking after his six-month injury break, is ranked 94th in the Protected Ranking.
Irrespective of this, the Swiss tennis season has also been disappointing for Günthardt. “We’ve done very badly at the Grand Slam tournaments. That shows where we are at the moment,” says the 65-year-old. “What you mustn’t forget is that tennis is a global sport. That’s why it’s so difficult to be at the top.”
Switzerland is still one of the smaller nations in international comparison. “We don’t have such a large base. If there are two or three injuries, we suddenly have no one in the second round of a Grand Slam,” says Günthardt. This is exactly what Swiss Tennis had to experience first-hand with the absences of Leandro Riedi, Dominic Stricker and Belinda Bencic: “From a Swiss perspective, a lot of things have come together this year. If you don’t have any breadth, it’s extremely noticeable. But it was a bad year, you just can’t sugarcoat it.”
The difficult transition to professional
From an association perspective, Günthardt highlights the strong competition as a major challenge: “Other associations sometimes have ten times the resources.” This is reflected in all areas, including the promotion of juniors. “The most difficult thing for an association is the promotion of 18 to 23-year-olds during the transition from junior to professional player. As long as they play junior tournaments, they play in the same place. After that, the whole thing gets bogged down.”
The fact that the tournaments are spread all over the world from then on also puts smaller associations under pressure when it comes to looking after the young professionals. Does this mean we need to worry about Swiss tennis? “We have enough players with the potential to do a lot better next year,” believes the former world number 22 and even speaks of a greater breadth than in Federer’s day.
At the same time, however, Günthardt makes it clear: “If we want to pick up where Roger left off and play for titles in the second week of a Grand Slam, then the air is getting thin.”