Protected Ranking in Tennis
What Is a Protected Ranking in Tennis and Who Can Use It?
A protected ranking lets a player who has been away from the tour through injury, illness or pregnancy enter tournaments using the ranking she had before she stopped. It is not a restored live ranking: it opens the door to entry lists, but it does not give her back the points she lost.
The WTA's Special Ranking
On the women's tour the rule is called a Special Ranking, and on draw sheets it appears as SR or PR. Under the WTA rulebook, it is the player's ranking as published straight after the points of her last tournament before the absence were added. To use it, she must apply in writing to WTA Operations, and she must have been ranked between 1 and 750 in singles or doubles when she stopped.
Roland-Garros summarised the conditions in a 2018 explainer: the absence had to last at least six months and no more than two years, the player had to be inside the top 300 in singles or top 200 in doubles, and the ranking could be used for eight tournaments within a year of her return, with limits on how many of them could be the biggest events. The exact numbers are set in the rulebook for each season, so the current version is the one to check.
What it does and doesn't do
A Special Ranking is used to enter a main draw or qualifying, but not for seeding. A player who returns with a protected ranking of 30 is not seeded as the 30th best player; she is placed by her live ranking, and can meet a top seed in the first round.
Pregnancy and childbirth are covered as well. The ITF World Tennis Tour regulations for 2026 allow a ranking to be assigned when a player has been unable to compete for at least 26 weeks because of a medical condition, parental leave or pregnancy. In June 2025 the WTA also announced a Special Entry Ranking for players taking time away for fertility protection procedures, usable at up to three tournaments.
The ATP version
On the men's tour the rule is called a Protected Ranking. It works in a similar way: a player who has been out injured for a set minimum period can use a ranking based on his results around the start of the absence to enter a limited number of events. The ATP Rulebook gives the details, including how long the protection lasts and how many tournaments it covers. If you want to know why a returning player is in a draw ahead of higher-ranked players, the letters PR or SR next to the name are the answer.
Rules, point tables and prize money are set by the tours and the ITF for each season. Check the official source named in the text before relying on a figure.
