MEDVEDEV IS NEW No 1 AS ROW OVER RANKING POINTS RUMBLES ON...

NOTHING sums up the chaos of Wimbledon’s ranking statement more than the elevation to world No 1 it will bring for Daniil Medvedev.

With the law of unintended consequences kicking into action, a measure initially designed to hurt Russia will now see their main man Medvedev (pictured) all but guaranteed to replace Novak Djokovic at the top after The Championships.

That will be one part of the fallout from the decision by the tours to cut SW19 out of its ranking system this year. The 35-year-old Serb being unable to defend his 2,000 points from winning 12 months ago is the reason.

As an opponent of the All England Club’s stance Djokovic can hardly complain, and the sanction will doubtless not deter him from trying to claim another Slam in his race with Rafael Nadal for the most majors.

Many other players, from the great to the anonymous, will suffer consequences. Roger Federer, missing anyway, will lose his ranking altogether. So too Serena Williams unless she played beforehand (it looks increasingly unlikely she will play at all).

Spare a thought for Italy’s Matteo Berrettini, who cannot recoup the 1,200 he made at Wimbledon last year by making the final.

There will be further recriminations over the next month following Friday night’s confirmation. A further summation of the splits in tennis is that four different bodies — the two tours, International Tennis Federation and Wimbledon — all made separate announcements within an hour. Beyond the formality of the statements there has been a serious deterioration in the relationship between the two tours and the All England Club. Tour officials have been privately astonished at what they see as a lack of communication around the whole matter of the Russian ban, and the lack of presence at events in recent months of figures from Wimbledon and the Lawn Tennis Association.

For their part the British side insist that they kept the rest of the game up to speed with their position as much as they could. Either way, the various parties did not connect very well.

Not having points is ultimately galling for a tournament which had to cope with Covid disruption last year and was, uniquely among the Slams, outright cancelled in 2020. There is a certain solidarity among the biggest four tournaments and looking on with interest will be the US Open, which may take a similar line to Wimbledon if there is no upturn in the wretched events affecting Ukraine.

The French Open will plough on blissfully aware as it begins with its usual Sunday start to maximise ticket revenue. The main attraction on day one will be the appearance of Carlos Alcaraz, the 19-year-old Spaniard who ought to have a gentle introduction against Argentinian Juan Ignacio Londero.