The ATP Rankings can be a bit of a minefield, particularly for casual fans, who just want to know where their favourite player is going to be ranked and why. This aritcle is my attempt to explain how the rankings work.
Points Distribution At its most basic level, rankings are based on points which are earned in each tournament throughout the year. The amount of points on offer in each tournament depends upon the category of that tournament. In the main tour their are four categories:
- Grand Slams
- Masters 1000
- ATP 500
- ATP 250
Grand Slams There are four grand slams of course - The Australian Open, Roland Garros, Wimbledon and the US Open. Each of these tournaments have 128 players in the main draw. The maximum number points on offer is 2,000 and number of points awarded to each player obviously depends on how far the player progresses through the tournament. The following is the breakdown for Grand Slams:
Round of 128 - 10 points
Round of 64 - 45 points
Round of 32 - 90 points
Round of 16 - 180 points
Quarter-Finals - 360 points
Semi-Finals - 720 points
Runner-Up - 1,200 points
Winner - 2,000 points
Some players have to qualify for the main draw. If they do so, they get an extra 25 points.
Masters 1000 The next rung down are Masters 1000 events. There are 9 in total - Indian Wells, Miami, Monte Carlo, Rome, Madrid, The Rogers Cup, Cincinatti, Shanghai and Paris. The size of the draw varies but the points on is roughly half of that in the Grand Slams. For the sake of completeness:
There are usually only 56 in the draw, with the eight highest seeds getting a Bye to the second round. If the draw is greater than 64, then you get 25 points for getting in to the Round of 64 and 10 points for the previous round (the draw will be for 96 with some players getting a Bye to the next round). Qualifiers also obtain an extra 25, unless there is more than 56 players in the main draw, in which case they get an extra 12 points only)
ATP 500 The next rung of tournaments is the ATP 500. These are worth a maximum of 500 points. There are 11 of these in total - Rotterdam, Memphis, Dubai, Acapulco, Barcelona, Hamburg, Washington DC, Beijing, Tokyo, Valencia and Basel. The breakdown is as follows:
R32 (if applicable) - 20
R16 - 45
QF - 90
SF - 180
RU - 300
W - 500
Those who have to qualify for the main draw get 20 additional points.
ATP 250 ATP 250 make up most of the rest of the tennis calender. There are 51 of these tournaments, which you will no doubt be relieved to know that I am not going to name. The breakdown is as follows:
R32 (if applicable) - 5
R16 - 20
QF - 45
SF - 90
RU - 150
W - 250
Those who have to qualify for the main draw get an additional 12 points.
Additional Note There are also Challenger events below the 250s and Futures events below that. There are levels within those. There are different levels within those as well and I am not going to explain them here. These tournaments do not form part of the ATP World Tour as such. The points awarded are minimal and are there for players trying to break into the main tour.
The Best Of 18 Rule
So each players performance in every tournament they play is recorded and the amount of points they earn noted. The Major Rule after that, is the "Best of 18" Rule. Quite simply, only an individual's best 18 results are recorded in their overall ranking total, from which their world ranking is determined.
However it is not as simple as that. There are other rules which apply to the best of 18:
Commitment Players and Non-Commitment Players You should note from the outset that different rules apply to those who finished the previous calender year in the top 30 than those who didn't. So whoever was in the Top 30 at the end of 2010 will have different requirements to the rest. These players are called "Commitment Players" for the purposes of rankings. Remember to distinguish those who are at any point in the top 30 form those who finished the previous year in the top 30. Those two groups can be different and we are talking about only the latter here. So if a player breaks into the top 30 in June of any year, he does not become a commitment player - the converse is also the case.
There is a structure put in place to calculate the rankings. Commitment Players, will have a "Best of 18" calculated with the following structure:
- 4 Grand Slams
- 8 Mandatory Masters 1000 (more on this below)
- 4 ATP 500
- 2 Other tournaments (This can be ATP 250 or Challangers)
So even if a player does not swing a racquet in one of the Grand Slams, it is still counted in their total and is known as a "zero-pointer." The Mandatory Masters are all the Masters except Monte Carlo, which players are allowed to skip.
For those outside the Top 30 at the end of the previous calender year, the Best of 18 is calculate from the following tournaments:
- 4 Grand Slams (but only if they qualified for the draw)
- 8 Mandatory Masters (again, only if they qualified)
- 6 Best other tournements
Of the six "other tournaments" only four can be ATP 500 events. In contrast then to those who finished the previous calender year in the top 30, if those outisde the top 30 did not qualify for the Grand Slam or Masters 1000, then this does not take up one of their 18 "slots". They can replace them with an ATP 250 or a Challenger.
ATP World Tour Finals The Top 8 players at the end of the year play in the World Tourt Finals. The points earned in this tournament count as a 19th tournament. They do not replace one of the best of 18. The tournament is a different format, with two groups of four players, each playing each other. The top two from each group go through to the semi finals and then theres the final. For each Round Robin match won, the player gets 200 points. For winning the semi finals, there is an additional 400 points and for winning the final, there is an additional 500 points. In total, there is a maximum of 1,500 points on offer.
Case Study Just in case that is a little confusing, here is a comparison. I have linked to Roger Federer's ranking breakdown and the ranking breakdown of Grigor Dimitrov below:
You can see in Roger Federer's ranking breakdown the different categories making up his is "Best of 18" (plus the additional World Tour Finals). I picked Roger because he, for whatever reason, tends to not play many ATP 500 events. You can see that he picks up "zero pointers" in that category. They are counted, even though he has not played them.
Compare this to the breakdown of Dimitrov. He has qualifed for jsut one Grand Slam so far in 2011 and it is counted in his "best of 18". The ATP 500 are kept in a separate category as he can only have a maximum of four (currently he only has one). Beyond that his best performances are counted with no restrictions.
Grand Slams and Masters 1000 - Additional Notes There are additional points to be made about the Grand Slams and Masters 1000. Firstly, in relation to the Masters 1000, Monte Carlo is not mandatory. So this will not neccessarily be counted in the Best of 18, even for the Top 30 players. As I've noted above, the best 4 Grand Slams and the 8 other Masters 1000 will be included in the Best fo 18 regardless of how many points are earned in them.
If a player is eligible to play one of these tournaments, they must play it. If that player fails to do so, they will get a "zero pointer" but they will also recieve a penalty. The penalty is effectively a suspension. IT works by giving a player an additional zero-pointer for the next best Masters 1000 that they perform in over the next 12 months. Players can avoid this suspension by doing so promotional work at the event in the first three days. Obviously if a player has a verifiable injury, then they will not be penalised further but the "zero pointer" for that particular tournament will remain.
ATP 500 - Additional Notes There is also an additional note about the ATP 500 events. Four in total can be counted. However, the Masters 1000 event Monte Carlo can be included as one of these four. So if the player plays Monte Carlo, they only have to play 3 ATP 500 events.
However, if player withdraws from an ATP 500 after the list of the acceptance to the draw of that tournament has been released, then they will get a "zero pointer" even if they have played four ATP 500s elsewhere. A "zero pointer" issued for late withdrawl is however replaced by a subsequent ATP 500.
One of the four ATP 500 events must take place after the US Open. There are four such tournaments; Beijing, Tokyo, Valencia and Basel. One of these tournaments will be included and failure to play one of them will result in a "zero pointer".
Players can also accumulate points by playing in the Davis Cup. Davis Cup points are included in the ATP 500 category. So a Player can play 3 ATP 500 and Monte Carlo or three ATP 500 and the Davis Cup or 2 ATP 500 and Monte Carlo and the Davis Cup. However, the cannot replace a zero-pointer issued for withdrawl after the acceptance list is released or for failing to play an ATP 500 after the US Open.
"Zero-pointers" are also given when when a commitment player does not have the full quota of ATP 500s (as described above). This zero-pointer is often listed on the offical website as getting 0 points for the most recent ATP 500. This type of zero-pointer is replaced when the player plays an extra ATP 500.
Finally, if a Commitment Player has fulfilled the required four ATP 500 in the previous 52 weeks, then they can replace the lowest result of these with their next best other countable tournament (ATP 250, Challenger or Future). So if a player has actually played in four ATP 500s, their ranking can be counted from 3 ATP 500 and 3 ATP 250 events.
ATP 250
ATP 250 make up most of the rest of the tennis calender. There are 51 of these tournaments, which you will no doubt be relieved to know that I am not going to name. The breakdown is as follows:
R32 (if applicable) - 5
R16 - 20
QF - 5
SF - 90
RU - 150
W - 250
It's a useful thread which hopefully will be maintained (and updated if necessary). I think most regular posters probably know most of it already, but it's a useful summary thread. It would be good to point novices/.newbies etc in this direction at the right time when they ask certain questions.
"So even if a player does swing a racquet in one of the Grand Slams, it is still counted in their total and is known as a "zero-pointer""
I would coorrect the above - I believe you need to insert a negative, such as not after does.
Questions
Do players receive a financial penalty for skipping 1000s?
Do you still get an extra (25) points for qualifying even if you reach later rounds? I thought that only applied to the first round or two. Example, if you qualify for and win a grand slam, would you get 2000 or 2025?
Comments
It looks like a zero point penalty only applies to one of their worst results, so they would typically only lose say 45 or 90 points, that's not much incentive for really top players is it?
I suppose you were going for simplicity , but you might want to find and briefly in one sentence add the rule about when you are allowed to skip 1000s, something about age or number of matches played or something.
You may want to add a rule about points dropping off, and also briefly mention the Olympics.
Couple of wee points, R1 of 250's & 500's deliver 0 points to the losers. Players with a bye that fail to win their first match earn first round points.
There are 3 500's that have 6 rounds in all, Barcelona, Hamburg & Washington DC, and 2 Masters 1000, Indian Wells & Miami, that have 7 rounds.
Originally posted by Henman Bill Questions
Do players receive a financial penalty for skipping 1000s?
Do you still get an extra (25) points for qualifying even if you reach later rounds? I thought that only applied to the first round or two. Example, if you qualify for and win a grand slam, would you get 2000 or 2025?
Comments
It looks like a zero point penalty only applies to one of their worst results, so they would typically only lose say 45 or 90 points, that's not much incentive for really top players is it?
I suppose you were going for simplicity , but you might want to find and briefly in one sentence add the rule about when you are allowed to skip 1000s, something about age or number of matches played or something.
You may want to add a rule about points dropping off, and also briefly mention the Olympics.
Sorry for being late getting back to you. My understanding is that players can be subject to a Financial penalty for missing a Masters without good cause. I believe it also used to be the case for missing too many ATP 500s but that this has since been stopped.
Additional qualifying points do count for all rounds so far as I know, so a qualifier winning a Grand Slam would get 2025 but I'm not sure that this has ever happened.
As regards the requirement to play Masters, it is true that older players do not have to play in these Masters. However, their ranking will still be affected by a zero-pointer. They simply will not face suspensions or fines for not playing as many.
Originally posted by Jingle58 Great article, Lionel, thanks.
Couple of wee points, R1 of 250's & 500's deliver 0 points to the losers. Players with a bye that fail to win their first match earn first round points.
There are 3 500's that have 6 rounds in all, Barcelona, Hamburg & Washington DC, and 2 Masters 1000, Indian Wells & Miami, that have 7 rounds.
Thanks for that. I need to find room for it though as I've used all 10,000 characters. Lol
"So if a player has actually played in four ATP 500s, their ranking can be counted from 3 ATP 500 and 3 ATP 250 events."
It is worth pointing out that 3 of these ATP500's must be prior to the US Open, otherwise it does not count. So take Robin Soderling for instance, who has Rotterdam, Valencia, Beijing and Barcelona; 4 ATP500's, right?
But Bastad does not count in his Best 18 because out of those 4, only 2 are pre US Open, and 2 are Post US Open.
Rafael Nadal
SILVER
