THIS WEEK: Welcome back for the second year of the SRI Rankings Top 50! There should be a few changes taking place in the rankings by mid-year, which will incorporate Challenger results among other things.

Heavy lethal brickbats to the ATP, who haven't touched their site since November. Therefore, neither JD nor I can get the information we want on the Tuesday following the first week of the Tour for 1996.

Starting the year on an up is Czech Petr Korda, leaping from 26 to 13 on SRI with a torphy in Qatar after pounding both Larsson and Stich. Last year's winner, Stefan Edberg, was out in the first round and has plummeted to a new low of 19. Jim Courier failed to defend his 95 Adelaide hardcourt title, so he slips back from 5 to 7 and allows Kafelnikov up to number 6.

Next week is the first of our specials for the year, previewing the Australian Open (just down the road from my office).

SRI Rankings Top 50 Issue #31. 9th Jan 1996
Rank	Name	Rating Points	Rank Change	ATP Rank
1	Andre Agassi	1070	0	2
2	Pete Sampras	997	0	1
3	Thomas Muster	937	0	3
4	Michael Chang	887	0	5
5	Boris Becker	856	+1	4
6	Yevgeny Kafelnikov	854	+1	6
7	Jim Courier	836	-2	8
8	Thomas Enqvist	833	0	7
9	Magnus Larsson	806	0	22
10	Michael Stich	800	0	13
11	Sergi Bruguera	750	+1	12
12	Wayne Ferreira	730	+1	9
13	Petr Korda	730	+13	26
14	Marc Rosset	724	0	15
15	MaliVai Washington	719	0	25
16	Goran Ivanisevic	718	+2	10
17	Marcelo Rios	717	0	24
18	Richard Krajicek	712	-2	11
19	Stefan Edberg	707	-8	30
20	Mark Philippoussis	702	0	39
21	Gilbert Schaller	701	-2	19
22	Todd Martin	697	0	17
23	Javier Frana	693	-2	44
24	Andrei Medvedev	689	-1	16
25	Arnaud Boetsch	679	-1	14
26	David Prinosil	679	+6	40
27	Alberto Costa	679	0	23
28	Brett Steven	677	-3	43
29	Todd Woodbridge	667	-1	35
30	Patrick McEnroe	666	+1	36
31	Bohdan Ulihrach	653	-2	28
32	Hernan Gumy	644	-2	61
33	Paul Haarhuis	644	+2	18
34	Francisco Clavet	643	0	51
35	Jan Siemerink	641	-2	21
36	David Wheaton	634	+3	46
37	Andrea Gaudenzi	634	-1	20
38	Magnus Gustafsson	632	+2	86
39	Richey Reneberg	629	-1	58
40	Daniel Vacek	625	+8	27
41	Cedric Pioline	624	+6	55
42	Carlos Costa	621	+1	33
43	Sjeng Schalken	621	+2	69
44	Guy Forget	617	-2	75
45	Vince Spadea	615	+1	82
46	Javier Sanchez	614	-2	42
47	Mark Woodforde	610	-10	63
48	Shuzo Matsuoka	609	+2	65
49	Greg Rusedski	608	0	38
50	Alberto Berasategui	607	+2	34
53	Jonas Bjorkman	606	0	32
54	Patrick Rafter	602	-13	71
57	Byron Black	596	+16	29
69	Renzo Furlan	562	0	31

Rating Winners:
Petr Korda	+50	(W Qatar 96)
David Prinosil	+30	(SF Qatar 96)
Yevgeny Kafelnikov	+14	(W Adelaide 96, QF 95)
Patrick McEnroe	+13	(1R Qatar 95)
Daniel Vacek	+11	(QF Adelaide 96, 1R 95)

Rating Losers:
Stefan Edberg	-46	(W Qatar 95, 1R 96)
Jim Courier	-31	(W Adelaide 95)
Mark Woodforde	-22	(SF Adelaide 95, 2R 96)
Patrick Rafter	-22	(QF Adelaide 95, 1R 96)
Magnus Larsson	-14	(RU Qatar 95, QF 96)
Hernan Gumy	-14	(1R Adelaide 96)
Michael Stich	-11	(SF Qatar 95, 2R 96)

--- blurb --- These are the current full-year ratings of top players according to a "spectral radius" program. Spectral radius algorithms have had much success with college sports and some other sports in giving a mathematically reliable ranking of the teams/players involved.

This ranking is not intended to completely replace the ATP Ranking. In fact, it shows that the ATP system is more reliable than most people think.

SRI = Spectral Radius at Infinity. For a relevant reference, see "The Perron-Frobenius Theorem and the Ranking of Football Teams" by James P. Keener, SIAM Review, v.35 no.1, p.80 (1993)

I have set an arbitrary lower limit of 20 matches played for appearance on this list. Scaled cut-offs (like a 14 tournament minimum divisor) will be considered in the future, but it probably won't make much of a difference to the top 50.

The SRI Rankings are an index of average performance, not of point-gathering.

SRI Rankings Top 50 back issues available on application to the address below.

Thanks to JD for the data.