How do Tennis rankings work?

The importance of rankings in professional tennis cannot be understated.

Their most basic function is to measure each player in relation to their peers and determine, if possible, who is the best in the world for each gender.

Rankings also determine which tournaments a player can enter, the amount of money they might receive from sponsorship deals and the seeding for Grand Slams.

The ATP and WTA tennis rankings, which were introduced in 1973 and 1975 respectively, are determined by a points-based system.

How do players earn ATP/WTA points?

Points are accrued from performances in tournaments across a rolling 52-week period. When 52 weeks have passed since points were acquired, they are dropped, and any new points earned are added.

The further a player advances in a tournament, the more points they will receive. The ranking of a player's opponent is generally not factored in when determining points; it's all about the number of wins and tournament progression.

This is why a player's ranking is extremely important; the higher you are, the easier your draw should be.

The men's rankings are formed from a maximum of 20 tournaments, while the women's are from 18.

Each tournament category offers a certain number of points each round according to their importance and prestige. On the men's side, the 20 tournaments include the four Grand Slams - Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon and US Open - the ATP Finals, eight mandatory Masters 1000 events and then the seven best performances at lower-ranked tournaments at ATP 500 and ATP 250 level.

For those not competing in the season-ending ATP Finals, only 19 tournaments are counted. However, in the women's rankings, the WTA Finals count as an additional 19th tournament.

How many points do players earn in Grand Slams?

To automatically qualify for the main draw of a Grand Slam event, a player must be ranked inside the world's top 104. There are 16 places available through qualifying, where players must participate in three round over a best-of-three set format, while the remaining eight places are awarded to wildcards.

The top 32 players in the world are seeded.

As Grand Slams are the pinnacle of the sporting calendar, they also offer the most points, which is why results in a Grand Slam can have a major effect on the rankings.

Men's Grand Slam points

• Winner: 2000 points
• Runner-up: 1300 points
• Semi-finals: 800 points
• Quarter-finals: 400 points
• Round of 16: 200 points
• Round of 32: 100 points
• Round of 64: 50 points
• Round of 128: 10 points
• Qualifiers: 30 points

Women's Grand Slam points

• Winner: 2000 points
• Runner-up: 1300 points
• Semi-finals: 780 points
• Quarter-finals: 430 points
• Round of 16: 240 points
• Round of 32: 130 points
• Round of 64: 70 points
• Round of 128: 10 points
• Qualifiers: 40 points

What is a protected ranking?

A protected ranking is used to allow tennis players to compete in Grand Slams if they've been injured.

If a top-performing player sustains a long-term injury which results in their ranking falling too low to automatically qualify for the main draw of a Grand Slam, the protected rankings enable any player to have fallen below the top 100 cutoff to enter directly through the main draw.

Individuals are allowed to use their previous ranking to enter 12 tournaments over a three-year period following their comeback.

Players can petition the ATP or WTA for a protected ranking when they have been absent from any tennis events for at least six months because of a physical injury.

For women, a protected ranking also enables them to qualify for the main draw of a Grand Slam if they've been on maternity leave.

A notable example is Serena Williams, who returned to the circuit following the birth of her daughter but had fallen to 453rd in the world during her absence. However, courtesy of Williams' protected ranking, the 23-time major champion was able to compete in the French Open and Wimbledon.

How many points are needed to qualify for the ATP/WTA Finals?

There isn't a fixed number of points required to qualify for the ATP/WTA Finals, although only the top eight players in the world will earn a spot for the tournament.

Both the ATP and WTA have a 'Race to the Finals' chart which displays where a player is ranked, the number of tournaments they've played and how many points they have accrued throughout the calendar year.

In 2024, Andrey Rublev qualified for the ATP Finals as he occupied eighth in the ATP standings with 3,760 points. Jannik Sinner topped the charts with 11,830 points courtesy of his Australian Open, US Open and ATP Finals triumphs.