Is Rafael Nadal the biggest winner in the ATP's new ranking system?

Rafael Nadal has remained tight-lipped over how and when he will restart his 2020 season. Nadal, who was last seen at a Major in the Australian Open quarterfinal where he bowed out to Dominic Thiem, has played no exhibition tournaments during the period where lockdown restrictions have been eased.

There has been a lot of speculation about whether the Spaniard will participate in the American summer hardcourt season, which includes Washington, the Cincinnati Masters (to be played in New York) and the US Open. With the clay swing set to begin in Madrid the day after the US Open final, many feel the Spaniard wouldn't want to strain his body too much in the lead-up.

One of the biggest concerns for Rafael Nadal would have also been the defence of 5,000+ ranking points over the period between August and October. However, he may have been helped considerably in that regard by the new ranking system that has been announced by the ATP.

Rafael Nadal won't have to defend any of his ranking points between August and October

Rafael Nadal at Paris Masters 2019

Rafael Nadal had a massively successful 2019 season. He picked up two Grand Slam titles - at Roland Garros and the US Open - and also triumphed at Rome and Toronto to end the year as World No. 1.

That had the potential to put the Spaniard in trouble this year, as three of those four events are set to take place in the space of six weeks. Effectively, the World No. 2 would have had to defend 2000 points at Flushing Meadows, 360 points in Madrid, 1000 points in Rome and 2000 points at Roland Garros while playing non-stop.

However, the ATP's new ranking system - put in place to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic - will take into account the points earned from March 2019 to December 2020 rather than just the usual 52 rolling weeks. Moreover, the points that a player won in 2019 but wasn't able to defend in 2020 due to the coronavirus outbreak, will remain valid for the rankings - unless the player gets more points in the 2020 event than he did a year ago.

This effectively means that the 5360 ranking points that Rafael Nadal was set to defend between August and October will remain in place even if he doesn't step on the court at all. In fact, he can actually better his points total with a runner-up or trophy winning performance in Madrid.

This would have come as a giant relief for Rafael Nadal, as members of his team had already essayed their displeasure with the new schedule. Former coach and uncle Toni Nadal, as well as current coach Carlos Moya, had hinted that Rafael Nadal might have to choose between the two remaining Slams in order to preserve his body. But with the new ranking system, Nadal can do that without hesitation as he won't suffer any loss of points.

The option of choosing the better points-earning edition between 2019 and 2020 is particularly beneficial for Rafael Nadal, given how well he did in these tournaments last year. For instance, even if Novak Djokovic dominates the next two months on tour, the best he can hope to do is match Nadal's points total - unless he wins all the four big events (two Slams and two Masters), in which case he will slightly exceed the Spaniard's tally.

At a time when decisions are yet to be made about whether or not to travel away from Europe to the United States and then travel back to Europe for the clay swing, Rafael Nadal would be very happy with the ATP's revised ranking rules.