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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 garnered the most ATP ranking points.
Contents
- Ranking method
- Records and particularities
- Number 1 ranked players
- By player
- By country
- Year end No 1
- References
Points are awarded based on how far a player advances in tournaments and the category of those tournaments. The ATP has used a computerized system for determining the rankings since 23 August 1973. Starting in 1979, an updated rankings list is released at the beginning of each week.
Since 1973, 26 men have been ranked number 1 by the ATP, of which 17 have been year-end number 1. The current world number one is Andy Murray.
Ranking method
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 totaling 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 tournament total to nineteen.
Records and particularities
Roger Federer holds the records for both the most total weeks at number 1 (302) and most consecutive weeks at number 1 (237). Pete Sampras holds the record for the most year-end number 1 (six, all consecutive). Patrick Rafter spent the fewest weeks at number 1 (one week).
Lleyton Hewitt is both the youngest world number 1 (20 years, 268 days) and youngest year-end number 1, while Ivan Lendl is the oldest year-end number 1 (29 years, 299 days). Andre Agassi is the oldest number 1 (33 years, 131 days).
Only four players have regained the year end No. 1 ranking, Lendl in 1989, Federer in 2009, Nadal in 2010, and Djokovic in 2014. Only one player regained the year end No. 1 ranking a second time, Nadal in 2013.
Two players, Ivan Lendl and Marcelo Ríos, have reached number 1 without previously having won a Grand Slam tournament. Lendl reached number 1 on February 21, 1983, but did not win his first Grand Slam title until the 1984 French Open. Rios reached number 1 on March 30, 1998 and is the only number 1 player who never won a Grand Slam singles title.
Since 1973 when the ATP ranking started, there have been twelve years when one player held the top spot for the entire year. In contrast, 1999 had the most number 1 players of any year since the rankings started. There were five players who were number 1 sometime during that year - Sampras, Carlos Moya, Yevgeny Kafelnikov, Agassi and Rafter. John McEnroe held the No. 1 ranking on a record 14 different occasions and Pete Sampras was the only other player to hold it on 10 or more occasions with 11 different stints.
Number 1 ranked players
The statistics are updated only when the ATP website revises its rankings (usually every Monday morning except when tournament finals are postponed).By player
The table on the left shows the total number of weeks that each player has been ranked No. 1 in their career by the ATP.
The table on the right shows the number of consecutive weeks each player has been ranked No. 1 by the ATP.
By country
Year-end No. 1
The ATP year-end No. 1 ranked player is determined as the player at the head of the ATP rankings following the completion of the final tournament of the calendar year, usually in November or December. Pete Sampras holds the record of six year-end No. 1 rankings, which were in consecutive years from 1993 through 1998.
Six players have stayed at ATP No. 1 in the rankings every week of a calendar year. Federer is the only player to have been ranked No. 1 every week for three consecutive calendar years.