Today it’s hard to imagine that in tennis there were times when there was no concept of “first racket”, and participation in major tournaments depended not on objective indicators, but on national federations and organizers' preferences. ATP rating has become a revolution in the development of sports, contributing to the attraction of a huge number of professional athletes seeking to achieve heights.
Rating History
In 2013, the fortieth anniversary of the creation of a ranking system for professional tennis players, in which sports legends took part, was celebrated on a large scale. Established in 1972, the Men's Tennis Association (ATP), after a year of its activity, officially announced the rating of professionals based on the results of the gaming season. On a huge calculating machine, the indicators of 186 athletes were displayed, at the head of which was Ilie Nastase.
Over the years, the system has undergone minor changes: in 2009, the parallel existing rating of the champion race was canceled, the number of points for performance in BS (Grand Slam) tournaments changed, their ratio between the winner and the finalist (from 75% to 50%), the rating trophy was canceled - bonuses for the victory over obviously stronger rivals, the concept of “mandatory” tournaments has been introduced, for participation or non-participation in which points are awarded. The main thing was the elimination of subjectivity in admission to the competition, which attracted about two thousand professional tennis players to the big sport.
Major tournaments
The ranking results are updated weekly, 52 times per game season, lasting from January to November. Introducing the rating of tennis players, the ATP proposed, in accordance with it, to select for competitions, which, in turn, also have their own rank. Most points can be earned for good results in BS tournaments (2000 to the winner). There are only four of them: the open championships of Australia (January), France (May - June), Great Britain (July - August), and the USA (August - September). For top athletes, participation is mandatory, which does not allow them to relax and enjoy past achievements.
The remaining tournaments are divided by the number of points possible for the winner: ATP-250, ATP-500 and the most prestigious - ATP-1000. For beginners, there are competitions (challengers) for the victory in which titles are not assigned, but points are awarded so that they can improve the tournament position. At the end of the season, a final draw is held in London for the eight best players, which not only reveals the winner of the year, but also adds points to the current rating in excess of the scored.
Team competitions (Davis Cup) and the Olympics have not affected the ATP rating since 2016.
Scoring
Points are awarded based on the results of eighteen tournaments. If a tennis player has participated in more competitions, the worst scores will not count. For athletes from the TOP-30 there are features that are presented in the table.
| BS tournaments | ATP-1000 | ATP-500, ATP-250, Challengers |
| TOP 30 | 4 (obligatory participation) | eight (obligatory participation) | 6 |
| Other players | 4 | eight | 6 (no more than 4 in ATP-500) |
Regardless of the reasons for not participating in compulsory tournaments, a player is awarded 0 points, which leads to a drop in his rating. At the end of the season, rationing takes place: tennis players' points are multiplied by a certain coefficient in order to reduce the difference with the leader, if he scored more than 4000 points. The coefficient is calculated by the formula: K = 4000: k1, where k1 is the number of points of the winner. ATP rating also provides for annual confirmation of points. The victory in the BS tournament obliges the tennis player to a successful performance for the next year, since his 2000 points will be canceled and replaced by the amount earned in the same competition in the new season.
Women's ranking system
If men have an ATP rating, women are guided by the criteria developed by the Women's Professional League (BTA) in 1975. They are slightly different from men. Points are awarded based on the results of matches won in any professional tournament, the scoring amount of which is slightly less than in the ATP - 16. In doubles, points are awarded to a team, not to an individual player, and it is enough to take part in 11 competitions.
Women have restrictions on “compulsory” tournaments: players from the TOP-10 can only participate in two championships of the international category. Points are awarded for competitions under the auspices of the amateur league. To get a position in the ranking, a girl must either score 10 points or play three tournaments. In the first position today is American Serena Williams, who has lost the second Australian Open of this season, Angelica Kerber (Germany), who is in second place. Maria Sharapova has the best result among Russians - 9. The Top 30 includes three more representatives of Russia - Svetlana Kuznetsova (13), Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (27) and Ekaterina Makarova (30th place).
ATP Rating: Current Status
201 weeks, until the summer of 2016, will be on the first line of the Serb Novak Djokovic table of players . The winner of the BS tournament in Australia and the prestigious Masters in Miami. His two-time gap on points from the second number (Andy Murray, UK) will allow to reach such high rates.
Few tennis players in history have held leadership positions for so long. Swiss Roger Federer, the current player and the owner of the third line of the world ranking, is one of them (302 weeks). An outstanding athlete (17 BS titles) still has chances to conquer his own record.
The top 100 players were Russians Andrei Kuznetsov (45), Teymuraz Gabashvili (51), Evgeni Donskoy (67) and Mikhail Yuzhny (73). The leader of domestic tennis is the best result in his career.
Men who have won a high ATP rating provide themselves with sowing at major competitions, which helps to increase entertainment. Top players at the early stage get divorced in the tournament bracket to meet in a duel only at the quarter-final stage. This attracts the number of fans in the final matches of the tournaments, which is comparable with the football championships. Five thousand spectators watched the confrontation between Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray in the final of the Australian championship at the stadium, which is a consequence of the correct ATP policy in ranking players.