The
ATP Rankings are the
Association of Tennis Professionals' (ATP) merit-based method for determining the rankings in men's tennis. The top ranked player is the player who, over the previous 52 weeks, has gathered the most ATP Rankings points. Points are awarded based on how far a player advances in tournaments and the category of those tournaments. The ATP has used a computerised system for determining the
rankings since August 1973. An updated rankings list is released at the beginning of each week.
Since the introduction of the ATP rankings the method used to calculate a player's ranking points has changed several times. As of 2011, the rankings are calculated by totalling the points a player wins in his best eighteen tournaments, subject to certain restrictions. For top players the counting tournaments are the four
Grand Slam tournaments, the eight mandatory
ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournaments, the player's best four eligible
ATP World Tour 500 series tournaments (the non-mandatory ATP Masters 1000 event in
Monte Carlo may be substituted for one of these), and his best two results from
ATP World Tour 250 series. Lower ranked players who are not eligible for some or all of the top tournaments may include additional ATP 500 and ATP 250 events, and also
ATP Challenger Series, and Futures Series tournaments. The ranking points of players who qualify for the year-end
ATP World Tour Finals also include any points gained at that tournament, increasing their counting...
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