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FifthSet

GlossaryRankings

Protected ranking

A frozen ranking that lets a player back from at least six months out through injury enter tournaments as if they had never stopped; not valid for seeding.

AlsoPR, entry protection, special ranking, protected ranking rule, protected rankings

Published

A protected ranking, called an entry protection in the ATP rulebook, is the tour's answer to a rolling ranking that punishes absence. Rankings count the past 52 weeks, so a player out for a year would otherwise return with almost no points and no way into main draws. A player who is injured or ill and does not compete for at least six months may petition for a protected ranking, calculated as their average ranking during the first three months after their last event. It is used only for entry: into main draws, qualifying or special exempt spots.

When you see it

Draw sheets mark the player "PR", and reports say a player is "using their protected ranking". It cannot be used for seeding or to get on a lucky loser list, so a former top-ten player returning with a protected ranking of, say, 10 is placed in the draw unseeded and can meet the top seed in the first round. After an absence of six to twelve months the protection lasts for nine tournaments or nine months, whichever comes first; after a year or more, twelve. Use at each major is limited to one entry, and the protection must be activated within three years of the last event.

Rule basis

ATP Official Rulebook, Chapter IX, 9.03 F (Entry Protection); Chapter VII, 7.14, case note: "Protected Ranking is for Entry, Not Seeding".

Related terms

  • Seeding · Ranking the strongest entrants and placing them in the draw so they cannot meet before the later rounds; the majors seed 32 players in singles.
  • Wild card · A main-draw or qualifying place given at the tournament's discretion to a player whose ranking would not otherwise get them in.
  • ATP Race · The calendar-year points table, officially the PIF ATP Race To Turin, that decides which eight players qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals.
  • Lucky loser · A player beaten in the final round of qualifying who gets into the main draw anyway when someone withdraws before their first match.

Sources

Material claims in this article are supported by the following sources.

  1. 01ATP Tour · 2026 ATP Official Rulebook, Chapter IX: PIF ATP Rankingsretrieved
  2. 02ATP Tour · FAQ about PIF ATP Rankings (ranking breakdown, Race To Turin, Nitto ATP Finals qualification, 2026 points tables)retrieved
  3. 03ATP Tour · 2026 ATP Official Rulebook, Chapter VII: The Competitionretrieved