Every week of the tennis season, dozens of professional tournaments are played around the world — from Grand Slams watched by millions to small events with a handful of spectators. They are organised in clear categories, and the category decides how many ranking points and how much prize money are on offer. Once you know the structure, the tennis calendar and the rankings become much easier to read.
The professional tennis pyramid
| Level | Men | Women | Champion's points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grand Slams | Australian Open, Roland-Garros, Wimbledon, US Open | 2000 | |
| Season finals | ATP Finals | WTA Finals | Up to 1500 |
| Top tier | ATP Masters 1000 | WTA 1000 | 1000 |
| Second tier | ATP 500 | WTA 500 | 500 |
| Third tier | ATP 250 | WTA 250 | 250 |
| Development | ATP Challenger Tour | WTA 125 | Up to 175 / 125 |
| Entry level | ITF World Tennis Tour (M15–M25, W15–W100) | Fewer points | |
Ranking points are added up over 52 weeks — our guide to ATP and WTA rankings explains how.
Grand Slams
The four majors are the oldest and most prestigious tournaments. They last two weeks, feature 128-player singles draws and offer the most prize money and ranking points. Men's singles are played best of five sets; women's singles best of three.
| Tournament | When | Where | Surface |
|---|---|---|---|
| Australian Open | January | Melbourne | Hard |
| Roland-Garros (French Open) | Late May – early June | Paris | Clay |
| Wimbledon | Late June – July | London | Grass |
| US Open | Late August – September | New York | Hard |
Winning all four in a calendar year is called a Calendar Grand Slam. The different surfaces are part of what makes it so hard — see court surfaces explained.
Season finals
The ATP Finals and WTA Finals close the season with the eight best singles players and doubles teams of the year, qualified through the race (points earned in the calendar year). They use a round-robin group stage followed by semi-finals and a final. An unbeaten champion earns 1500 points.
ATP Masters 1000 and WTA 1000
The next tier down. There are nine ATP Masters 1000 events — Indian Wells, Miami, Monte-Carlo, Madrid, Rome, Canada, Cincinnati, Shanghai and Paris — and around ten WTA 1000 events, several of them combined with the men's tournament. Most now run over about twelve days with larger draws, and the top players are generally required to take part in them.
500 and 250 events
500-level tournaments (ATP 500, WTA 500) attract strong fields and offer substantial points; 250-level events are the most numerous tier of the main tours and give lower-ranked players a chance to win titles. Both usually last a week. The number in the name is simply the champion's ranking points.
Challengers, WTA 125s and the ITF World Tennis Tour
Below the main tours sit the development levels:
- ATP Challenger Tour: categories from Challenger 50 to Challenger 175, named after the champion's points.
- WTA 125: the women's equivalent, between the ITF events and the WTA Tour.
- ITF World Tennis Tour: the entry level of professional tennis — men's M15 and M25 events, women's W15 to W100 events.
Young players and those returning from injury use these events to earn their first ranking points. Many future stars can be followed here years before they reach the big stages — our live scores include Challenger and ITF matches.
Team competitions and other events
- Davis Cup (men) and Billie Jean King Cup (women): the historic national-team competitions.
- United Cup: a mixed team event at the start of the season that awards ranking points.
- Laver Cup: Team Europe vs Team World; no ranking points.
- Olympic Games: every four years; prestigious but no ranking points under the current rules.
Reading a schedule: when two tournaments are played the same week, the higher category usually has the stronger field. A 500 and a 250 in the same week often split the players by ranking.
How qualifying and wild cards work
Each tournament's main draw is filled mainly by ranking: the highest-ranked entrants get direct acceptance. The remaining places go to qualifiers, who win a short pre-tournament event, and to wild cards, invitations chosen by the organisers — often for local players or returning champions. A lucky loser is a player beaten in the last round of qualifying who enters the main draw when someone withdraws.
Follow every category on our calendar and tournament pages, and see how the scoring works in tennis scoring explained.
Frequently asked questions
How many Grand Slam tournaments are there?
Four: the Australian Open (January, hard court), Roland-Garros (May–June, clay), Wimbledon (June–July, grass) and the US Open (August–September, hard court).
What is a Masters 1000 tournament?
The ATP Masters 1000 events are the most important men's tournaments after the Grand Slams and the ATP Finals. There are nine of them, and the champion earns 1000 ranking points. The women's equivalent is the WTA 1000 category.
What is the difference between ATP 500 and ATP 250?
The number is the ranking points for the champion. 500-level events usually have stronger fields, bigger prize money and more points at every round than 250-level events.
What is a Challenger tournament?
Challengers are the second tier of men's professional tennis, below the main ATP Tour. They award fewer ranking points (from 50 to 175 for the champion, depending on level) and are where most players build their ranking before reaching the tour.