In an individual, or at least mostly individual sport such as tennis, rankings are important. We can all name some of the best players of all time: Pete Sampras, Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, Steffi Graf, Serena Williams. They didn’t reach the top officially based on opinion however, but fact.
Those facts are achieved by winning matches and tournaments, leading to higher rankings. The ATP (men) and WTA (women) rankings form a representation of how good a player or doubles pair is on the court.
As well as this, tennis rankings form a major part of qualification for tennis tournaments. Ranking higher means getting into a tournament, while seeding based on those rankings determines the draw and who plays who early on. How are these rankings determined? How do the sport’s administrators decide on who scores more points?
ATP Rankings: Men’s Singles and Doubles
Players on the ATP tour earn points as long as they play in official ATP-certified events. Singles or doubles. They run over a 52-week timeframe.
Despite that fact, it’s not necessarily the case that players who take part in more tournaments get a distinct advantage. The tour imparts a limit on the number of events which can count towards the rankings. Currently, 19 tour events count towards rankings.
With that in mind, should a player take part in 22 tournaments over 52 weeks, their best 19 results will count towards the rankings. This keeps things fair for all and allows also for injury and fatigue.
Where the Points Are Gained
Ideally, a player or doubles pair will be expected to score their ranking points from certain tournaments. The four Grand Slams (Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon and US Open), eight mandatory ATP Masters 1000 tournaments and another seven ‘best other’ results are the competitions in question.
Sometimes players can miss a major tournament for genuine reasons, such as injury. When that happens, results from other eligible ATP tournaments within the 52-week timeframe counting towards official rankings increases by one.
At the end of the year, the ATP Finals take place. The eight highest ranked players and doubles pairs take part. For those who qualify, the ATP Finals essentially make up a 20th ‘bonus’ points earning tournament, boosting their ranking.
When a player qualifies for a tournament, they earn a base number of points. As they progress through the tournament, they earn further points. Every tournament is different of course, some being more important than others. Point numbers therefore vary from event to event.
ATP Grand Slam Points
As mentioned above, the four Grand Slams or ‘Majors’ are the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon and the US Open. These are the highest-ranking tournaments on the ATP tour.
| Winner | 2000 |
| Runner-Up | 1200 |
| Semi-Finals | 720 |
| Quarter-Finals | 360 |
| Round of 16 | 180 |
| Round of 32 | 90 |
| Round of 64 | 45 |
| Round of 128 | 10 |
| Qualifiers | 25 |
ARP Masters 1000 Points
In the ATP Finals, a player or doubles pair qualifying to play and winning the tournament can earn up to 1500 points. In the ATP Masters 1000, there are nine tournaments including Indian Wells, the Miami Open, the Shangai Masters and more.
| Winner | 1000 |
| Runner-Up | 600 |
| Semi-Finals | 360 |
| Quarter-Finals | 180 |
| Round of 16 | 90 |
| Round of 32 | 45 |
| Round of 64 | 25 |
| Round of 128 | 10 |
| Qualifiers | 25 |
ATP 500 Points
The next level down is the ATP 500. These are the point breakdowns there:
| Winner | 500 |
| Runner-Up | 300 |
| Semi-Finals | 180 |
| Quarter-Finals | 90 |
| Round of 16 | 45 |
| Round of 32 | 20 |
ATP Tour 250 Points
| Winner | 250 |
| Runner-Up | 150 |
| Semi-Finals | 90 |
| Quarter-Finals | 45 |
| Round of 16 | 20 |
| Round of 32 | 10 |
WTA Rankings: Women’s Singles and Doubles
The 52-week timeframe and calculations for WTA rankings is very similar to the ATP. One major difference is the cap on the number of ranking tournaments.
This time, a player’s ranking is based on her best results over a maximum of 16 events for singles and just 11 for doubles pairs. As well as this, the points must include those earned from the four Grand Slams and four mandatory WTA 1000 events where possible: Madrid, Miami, Beijing and Indian Wells.
Eight more ‘best other’ result can count and, like on the ATP, is a player cannot play in a Grand Slam or WTA 1000 it can be covered by a ‘best other’ result. This keeps the rankings as fair as possible. The WTA Finals can amount to a bonus tournament for those who qualify, just like the ATP Finals.
Grand Slam Points
To make the WTA rankings, players are tasked with earning points in a minimum of three events or score 10 singles or doubles ranking points. The distribution of WTA ranking points also differs slightly from the ATP.
| Winner | 2000 |
| Runner-Up | 1300 |
| Semi-Finals | 780 |
| Quarter-Finals | 430 |
| Round of 16 | 240 |
| Round of 32 | 130 |
| Round of 64 | 70 |
| Round of 128 | 10 |
| Qualifiers | 40 |
| Qualifiers 3 | 30 |
| Qualifiers 2 | 20 |
| Qualifiers 1 | 2 |
WTA Finals Points
Much like in the ATP Finals, the WTA Finals can lead to a winner earning another 1500 points. Behind that, the next most valuable ranking tournaments are the WTA 1000 tournaments in Beijing, Madrid, Miami and Indian Wells. These are the points breakdowns:
| Winner | 1000 |
| Runner-Up | 650 |
| Semi-Finals | 390 |
| Quarter-Finals | 215 |
| Round of 16 | 120 |
| Round of 32 | 65 |
| Round of 64 | 35 |
| Round of 128 | 10 |
| Qualifiers | 30 |
| Qualifiers 2 | 20 |
| Qualifiers 1 | 2 |
WTA 1000 Points
WTA 1000 tournaments take place in Dubai, Cincinnati, Wuhan, Rome and Montreal or Toronto. 1000 points aren’t actually quite on offer, though the events are still brands as ‘WTA 1000’. Here’s how the points break down:
| Winner | 900 |
| Runner-Up | 585 |
| Semi-Finals | 350 |
| Quarter-Finals | 190 |
| Round of 16 | 105 |
| Round of 32 | 60 |
| Round of 64 | 1 |
| Qualifiers | 30 |
| Qualifiers 3 | 22 |
| Qualifiers 2 | 15 |
| Qualifiers 1 | 1 |
History of Tennis Rankings
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Though the modern form of tennis has been played since this mid-19th century, rankings are fairly modern. British newspapers began producing their own rankings in the 50’s but things got more formal with the formation of the Association of Tennis Professionals, or ATP, in 1972.
After that, the first men’s rankings were released on August 23rd, 1973, Ilie Nastase of Romania being the first published world number one. Now, our detailed ranking systems allow to see, on a rolling basis, who the best men, women and doubles players are in the world. They can also be broken down into British rankings, USA rankings etc.
Recent World Number One Players
These are the last 10 world number one men’s players at the year-end:
Men’s Players
| Year | World No.1 |
|---|---|
| 2024 | Jannik Sinner (Italy) |
| 2023 | Novak Djokovic (Serbia) |
| 2022 | Carlos Alcarez (Spain) |
| 2021 | Novak Djokovic (Serbia) |
| 2020 | Novak Djokovic (Serbia) |
| 2019 | Rafael Nadal (Spain) |
| 2018 | Novak Djokovic (Serbia) |
| 2017 | Rafael Nadal (Spain) |
| 2016 | Andy Murray (Britain) |
| 2015 | Novak Djokovic (Serbia) |
Women’s Players
And these are the last 10 women’s year-end world number ones:
| Year | World No.1 |
|---|---|
| 2024 | Aryna Sabalenka (Belarus) |
| 2023 | Iga Swiatek (Poland) |
| 2022 | Iga Swiatek (Poland) |
| 2021 | Ashleigh Barty (Australia) |
| 2020 | Ashleigh Barty (Australia) |
| 2019 | Ashleigh Barty (Australia) |
| 2018 | Simona Halep (Romania) |
| 2017 | Simona Halep (Romania) |
| 2016 | Angelique Kerber (Germany) |
| 2015 | Serena Williams (USA) |