ATP rankings

The PIF ATP Rankings (previously known as the Pepperstone ATP Rankings) are the merit-based method used by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for determining the qualification for entry as well as the seeding of players in all singles and doubles tournaments. The first rankings for singles were published on 23 August 1973 while the doubles players were ranked for the first time on 1 March 1976. Ranking points are awarded according to the stage of tournament reached, and the prestige of the tournament, with the four Grand Slam tournaments awarding the most points. The rankings are updated every Monday, and points are dropped 52 weeks after being awarded (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). As of November 10, 2025, Carlos Alcaraz is the current men's singles world No. 1.

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

The ATP's new ranking system was quickly adopted by men's tennis. 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.

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

A player's ATP ranking is based on the total points they accrued in the following 20 tournaments (19 if they did not qualify for the ATP Finals):

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.

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. 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 would be extracted from his points).