Top German official accuses Roger Federer of influencing the ranking system for his own benefit

Dirk Hordorff, the Vice President of the German Tennis Federation, has accused Roger Federer of using his position on the ATP Players Council to benefit his own ranking.

The ATP tour is currently using a different ranking system due to the ongoing pandemic. As per the revised system, a player can retain the points earned during a tournament in 2019 if he doesn't play the same tournament or doesn't fare as well in 2020.

Roger Federer has not played since January's Australian Open due to a knee injury, for which he underwent surgeries in February and June. And the 39-year-old has been one of the biggest beneficiaries of the revised ranking system.

Despite his 11 month lay-off and the fact that he has played only one event, Federer is still ranked No. 5 in the world. He has retained a bulk of the points he earned during the 2019 season, during which he reached the Wimbledon final and the Roland Garros semifinals.

Speaking on the Tennisnet podcast 'Quiet please', Dick Hordorff pointed out that the Swiss superstar is still ranked in the top 10 only due to the changes in the system. He also insinuated that Roger Federer wields a huge influence on the ATP Players Council, especially with the exit of Novak Djokovic and Vasek Pospisil in August.

"Roger Federer simply changed the ranking method to protect himself. It is irresponsible and quite simply incorrect," Hordorff said. "In my opinion, he takes advantage of his position on the Players' Council. It must nevertheless be said that without the change in ranking system, Roger Federer would not be in the top 50."

The ATP Tour made another last-minute change just prior to the season-ending ATP Finals. Now, the points from the 2019 ATP Finals will also be retained as part of the players' ranking if they didn't qualify for the tournament in 2020 or didn't fare as well.

Apparently, the ATP has changed its mind and the points from the 2019 Nitto ATP finals won't drop after the event (they'll drop on Nov 8, 2021). That means that Nadal had already secured the YE #2 before Thiem's loss today - sorry for that!

— Nikolaus Fink (@NikolausFink) November 19, 2020

"That the Masters, which is the 19th tournament of the year anyway, will stay there for two years? That's perverse," Hordorff added.

If the conventional ranking system had been in place, Roger Federer would have been ranked No. 29 right now

Roger Federer during his post match press conference at the 2020 Australian Open

A recent analysis taking into account only the points earned during the 2020 season puts Roger Federer at No. 29 in the world rankings. Federer's lone event in 2020 was a semifinal finish at the Australian Open, where he earned 720 ranking points.

The 2020 rankings would have been led by current ATP No. 1 Novak Djokovic, followed by Dominic Thiem at No. 2 and Rafael Nadal at No. 3.

🎬Clap sur cette saison 2020.⬅️A gauche, le classement officiel ATP.➡️A droite, le classement uniquement basé sur les résultats de 2020.🟢Classement officiel favorable🟡Classement officiel = 2020🔴Classement officiel défavorable pic.twitter.com/U1V2AX52iw

— Jeu, Set et Maths (@JeuSetMaths) November 22, 2020

However, it is unclear which players' opinion was taken into account by the ATP before coming up with the revised ranking system. As of now, there is no evidence to show that Roger Federer had anything to do with the decision.