ATP Rankings

The ATP began as the men's trade union in 1972, through the combined efforts of Jack Kramer, Cliff Drysdale, and Donald Dell, and rose to prominence when 81 of its members boycotted the 1973 Wimbledon Championships.[2] Just two months later, in August, the ATP introduced its ranking system intended to objectify tournament entry criteria, which up to that point was controlled by national federations and tournament directors.[3]

The ATP's new ranking system was quickly adopted by men's tennis.[4] While virtually all ATP members were in favor of objectifying event participation, the system's first No. 1, Ilie Năstase, lamented that "everyone had a number hanging over them," fostering a more competitive and less collegial atmosphere among the players.[5]

The original ATP ranking criteria, which was then regularly published weekly only from mid-1979 and persisted through the 1980s, was based on averaging each player's results, though the details were revised a number of times.[3][4] Starting in 1990, in conjunction with the expansion of ATP purview as the new men's tour operator, the ranking criteria was replaced with a 'best of' system modeled after competitive downhill skiing.[4] This 'best of' system originally used 14 events but expanded to 18 in 2000.[4]

A player's ATP Ranking is based on the total points he accrued in the following 19 tournaments (18 if he did not qualify for the ATP Finals):

• The four Grand Slam tournaments
• The eight mandatory ATP Tour Masters 1000 tournaments,[lower-alpha 1]
• The previous ATP Finals count until the Monday following the final regular-season ATP event of the following year.[6]
• The best six results from the non-mandatory ATP Tour 1000, all ATP Tour 500, ATP Tour 250, ATP Challenger Tour, Futures Series and Davis Cup tournaments played in the calendar year[lower-alpha 2]

For a better result within the same tour type to be transposed one has to wait for the expiry of the first worse result from previous year. It only expires at the drop date of that tournament and only if the player reached a worse result or has not entered the current year.

Ranking points gained in a tournament are dropped 52 weeks later, with the exception of the ATP Finals, from which points are dropped on the Monday following the last ATP Tour event of the following year.[1]

The Monte-Carlo Masters 1000 became optional in 2009, but if a player chooses to participate in it, its result is counted and his fourth-best result in an ATP 500 event is ignored (his three best ATP 500 results remain). From 2009 until 2015, if a player did not play enough ATP 500 events and did not have an ATP 250 or Challenger appearance with a better result, the Davis Cup was counted in the 500's table.[7] The World Team Cup was also included before its cancellation in 2012.

For the Davis Cup, from 2009 until 2015, points were distributed for the World Group countries. Instead of having an exact drop date they were gradually updated at each phase of the competition, comparing the player's results with his results from the previous year. E.g. if a player played two matches in a semifinal but plays one the next year only that one missing match will be extracted from his points).[7]

A player who is out of competition for 30 or more days, due to a verified injury, will not receive any penalty. The ATP Finals will count as an additional 19th tournament in the ranking of its eight qualifiers at season's end.[8]

For every Grand Slam tournament or mandatory ATP Tour Masters 1000 tournament for which a player is not in the main draw, and was not (and, in the case of a Grand Slam tournament, would not have been, had he and all other players entered) a main draw direct acceptance on the original acceptance list, and never became a main draw direct acceptance, the number of his results from all other eligible tournaments in the ranking period that count for his ranking is increased by one.[1]

Once a player is accepted in the main draw of a Grand Slam tournament or ATP Tour Masters 1000 tournament,[lower-alpha 3] his result in this tournament counts for his ranking, regardless of whether he participates. A player's withdrawal from an ATP Tour 500 event, regardless of whether the withdrawal was on time, results in a zero point included as one of his best of four results. Further non-consecutive withdrawals results in a zero point allocation replacing the next best positive result for each additional withdrawal.[1]

Players with multiple consecutive withdrawals who are out of competition for 30 days or longer because of injury are not subject to a ranking penalty as long as verified and approved medical forms are provided; or, a player will not have the ranking penalty imposed if he completes the Promotional Activities requirement as specified under "Repeal of Withdrawal Fines and/or Penalties" or if the on-site withdrawal procedures apply. Players may also appeal withdrawal penalties to a Tribunal who will determine whether the penalties are affirmed or set aside.[1]

Between 2000 and 2012, ranking points were awarded based on results in the Summer Olympics. This was changed before the 2016 Olympics where no ranking points were awarded.[9]

With these rules, a player playing and winning the mandatory 4 Grand Slams and 8 ATP Masters 1000 events, a further 5 ATP 500 events and the Monte-Carlo Masters 1000 can amass a total of 19,500 points before the ATP Finals and end the calendar year with a maximum of 21,000 points. Up to day, the maximum points achieved by any player is 16,950 by Novak Djokovic, on June 6, 2016.[10]

Since the introduction of the ATP rankings the method used to calculate a player's ranking points has changed several times.[11][12]

The following is a list of players who have achieved the number one position in singles since the inception of the rankings in 1973:[21]

No.	Player	Date reached	Weeks
1	Ilie Năstase	Aug 23, 1973	40
2	John Newcombe	Jun 3, 1974	8
3	Jimmy Connors	Jul 29, 1974	268
4	Björn Borg	Aug 23, 1977	109
5	John McEnroe	Mar 3, 1980	170
6	Ivan Lendl	Feb 28, 1983	270
7	Mats Wilander	Sep 12, 1988	20
8	Stefan Edberg	Aug 13, 1990	72
9	Boris Becker	Jan 28, 1991	12
10	Jim Courier	Feb 10, 1992	58
11	Pete Sampras	Apr 12, 1993	286
12	Andre Agassi	Apr 10, 1995	101
13	Thomas Muster	Feb 12, 1996	6
14	Marcelo Ríos	Mar 30, 1998	6
15	Carlos Moyá	Mar 15, 1999	2
16	Yevgeny Kafelnikov	May 3, 1999	6
17	Patrick Rafter	Jul 26, 1999	1
18	Marat Safin	Nov 20, 2000	9
19	Gustavo Kuerten	Dec 4, 2000	43
20	Lleyton Hewitt	Nov 19, 2001	80
21	Juan Carlos Ferrero	Sep 8, 2003	8
22	Andy Roddick	Nov 3, 2003	13
23	Roger Federer	Feb 2, 2004	310
24	Rafael Nadal	Aug 18, 2008	209
25	Novak Djokovic	Jul 4, 2011	307
26	Andy Murray	Nov 7, 2016	41

* as of 8 February 2021.