Players and fans follow ATP and WTA rankings. It basically shows how good the player is (in comparison with others). The system of how the ATP and WTA points are counted is easy, but not everyone knows the logic behind it. Therefore, we prepared a quick cheat sheet to get basic knowledge about points and ATP/WTA rankings.
ATP 250 & WTA 500 Prize Money & Points
ATP Tournament Schedule – WTA Tournament Schedule
Use of Rankings
The number one player in the ranking is referred to as the world’s best tennis player.
Moreover, the official ATP and WTA rankings are used to determine entry and seeding in all tournaments (except ATP and WTA Finals).
ATP Ranking points system
There are four categories of ATP tour tournaments [Grand Slams*, ATP 1000, ATP 500, ATP 250] and six categories of lower-tier ATP Challenger tournaments [125, 110, 100, 90, 80, 50].
The number in the category name indicates the number of points awarded to the winner of the tournament.
*Grand Slams are officially organized by ITF (International Tennis Federation), but the points are included in ATP Tour rankings.
ATP Points table
- points are awarded according to tournament category and number of players in the singles draw
- the number of rounds depends on the number of players in the singles draw
- points are awarded to the loser in the respective round
| Grand Slam [128 Players Draw] | ATP Tour 1000 [96 Players Draw] | ATP Tour 1000 [48/56 Players Draw] | ATP Tour 500 [48 Players Draw] | ATP Tour 500 [32 Players Draw] | ATP Tour 250 [48 Players Draw] | ATP Tour 250 [32 Players Draw] | ATP Challenger 125 | ATP Challenger 110 | ATP Challenger 100 | ATP Challenger 90 | ATP Challenger 80 | ATP Challenger 50 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winner | 2 000 | 1 000 | 1 000 | 500 | 500 | 250 | 250 | 125 | 110 | 100 | 90 | 80 | 50 |
| Finalist | 1 200 | 600 | 600 | 300 | 300 | 150 | 150 | 75 | 65 | 60 | 55 | 48 | 30 |
| Semi-Finalist | 720 | 360 | 360 | 180 | 180 | 90 | 90 | 45 | 40 | 35 | 33 | 29 | 15 |
| Quarter-Finalist | 360 | 180 | 180 | 90 | 90 | 45 | 45 | 25 | 20 | 18 | 17 | 15 | 7 |
| Round of 16 | 180 | 90 | 90 | 45 | 45 | 20 | 20 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 4 |
| Round of 32 | 90 | 45 | 45 | 20 | - | 10 | - | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | - |
| Round of 64 | 45 | 25 | 10 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Round of 128 | 10 | 10 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Source: ATP Official Rulebook
Up-to-date ATP & WTA Rankings: ATP TOP 10 – ATP TOP 100
WTA Ranking points system
WTA adopted the new system of categories at the start of the 2021 season. It adopts a similar system to the one used by the ATP tour.
There are four categories of WTA tournaments [Grand Slams*, WTA 1000, WTA 500, WTA 250] and one lower-tier WTA 125 tournament. WTA tournaments are further divided into mandatory and non-mandatory categories.
However, the number in the category name indicates the value of the tournament. Still, it is not always equal to the points awarded to the winner of the tournament (that is the difference from ATP).
*Grand Slams are officially organized by ITF (International Tennis Federation), but the points are included in WTA Tour rankings.
WTA Points table
- points are awarded according to tournament category and number of players in the singles draw
- the number of rounds depends on the number of players in the singles draw
- points are awarded to the loser in the respective round
| Grand Slam [128 Players Draw] | WTA 1000 Mandatory [96 Players Draw] | WTA 1000 Mandatory [64 Players Draw] | WTA 1000 Mandatory [32 Players Draw] | WTA 1000 Non-Mandatory [56 Players Draw] | WTA 500 [64/56/48 Players Draw] | WTA 500 [32/30/28 Players Draw] | WTA 250 [56 Players Draw] | WTA 250 [32 Players Draw] | WTA 125 [48 Players Draw] | WTA 125 [32 Players Draw] | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winner | 2 000 | 1 000 | 1 000 | 1 000 | 900 | 470 | 470 | 280 | 280 | 160 | 160 |
| Finalist | 1 300 | 650 | 650 | 650 | 585 | 305 | 305 | 180 | 180 | 95 | 95 |
| Semi-Finalist | 780 | 390 | 390 | 390 | 350 | 185 | 185 | 110 | 110 | 57 | 57 |
| Quarter-Finalist | 430 | 215 | 215 | 215 | 190 | 100 | 100 | 60 | 60 | 29 | 29 |
| Round of 16 | 240 | 120 | 120 | 120 | 105 | 55 | 55 | 30 | 30 | 15 | 15 |
| Round of 32 | 130 | 65 | 65 | 10 | 60 | 30 | 1 | 16 | 1 | 8 | 1 |
| Round of 64 | 70 | 35 | 10 | - | 1 | 1 | - | 1 | - | 1 | - |
| Round of 128 | 10 | 10 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Source: WTA official rulebook
Up-to-date ATP & WTA Rankings: WTA TOP 10 – WTA TOP 100
The time period for official ranking purposes
Official rankings take into account the points earned by players in the last fifty-two weeks (which was increased to the best of the “2019 – 2020” model temporarily in 2020 due to a “covid” break).
It means that ATP/WTA ranking shows how many points players gained in tournaments in the last fifty-two weeks. The rankings are published every Monday.
Due to players’ mandatory obligation to participate in various tournaments, the rankings are calculated from the last 19 tournaments played by men and the last 16 tournaments played by ladies, but the fifty-two-week time frame applies.
That means that if you play in the last 52 weeks less than 19 (or 16) tournaments, just the results from the tournaments you played are counted.
ATP & WTA Finals rankings
Except for the official ranking, ATP and WTA also calculate the ranking for their ATP and WTA finals qualification purposes.
It is called “Race to Turin” in ATP and “Porsche Race to Shenzen” in WTA (both organizations using the names of host cities of finals in respective years).
These rankings are different from the official continuous ATP and WTA rankings.
In these rankings, just points gained in the respective season are calculated. The “Race to …” rankings are closed when the last tournament before the finals is finished. The first seven players of these rankings qualify for the season ATP/WTA finals. The eighth player for the final is either the grand slam winner who is between 8th and 20th place in the ranking or the eight-player of the ranking.
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