ATP Finals
The ATP Finals is the second highest tier of annual men's tennis tournaments after the four Grand Slam tournaments. A week-long event, the tournament is held annually each November at the Pala Alpitour in Turin, Italy. The ATP Finals are the season-ending championships of the ATP Tour and feature the top eight singles players and doubles teams of the ATP Rankings. The tournament has been one of the popular candidates for the monicker of "the fifth grand slam".[1] The tournament was first held in 1970, although it was known under a different name. Roger Federer holds the record for the most singles titles with six, while Peter Fleming and John McEnroe hold the record for the most doubles titles with seven. In the current tournament, winners are awarded up to 1500 ranking points; with each round-robin loss, 200 points are deducted from that amount.
| ATP Finals | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Tournament information | |
| Founded | 1970 |
| Location | Turin Italy (2021–2025) |
| Venue | Pala Alpitour |
| Category | ATP Finals |
| Surface | Hard – indoors |
| Draw | 8S / 8D |
| Prize money | US$5,700,000 (2020) |
| Website | nittoatpfinals.com |
| Current champions (2020) | |
| Men's singles |  Daniil Medvedev |
| Men's doubles |  Wesley Koolhof Nikola Mektić |
History
The event is the fourth evolution of a championship which began in 1970. It was originally known as the Masters Grand Prix and was part of the Grand Prix tennis circuit. It was organised by the International Lawn Tennis Federation (ILTF). It ran alongside the competing WCT Finals. The Masters was a year-end showpiece event between the best players on the men's tour, but did not count for any world ranking points.
In 1990, the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) took over the running of the men's tour and replaced the Masters with the ATP Tour World Championship. World ranking points were now at stake, with an undefeated champion earning the same number of points they would for winning one of the four Grand Slam events.[2] The ITF, who continued to run the Grand Slam tournaments, created a rival year-end event known as the Grand Slam Cup, which was contested by the 16 players with the best records in Grand Slam competitions that year.
In December 1999, the ATP and ITF agreed to discontinue the two separate events and create a new jointly-owned event called the Tennis Masters Cup. As with the Masters Grand Prix and the ATP Tour World Championships, the Tennis Masters Cup was contested by eight players. However, player who is ranked number eight in the ATP Champion's Race world rankings does not have a guaranteed spot. If a player who wins one of the year's Grand Slam events finishes the year ranked outside the top eight but still within the top 20, he is included in the Tennis Masters Cup instead of the eighth-ranked player. If two players outside the top eight win Grand Slam events, the higher placed player in the world rankings takes the final spot in the Tennis Masters Cup.
In 2009, the Masters was renamed the ATP World Tour Finals and was held at The O2 in London. The contract ran through 2013,[3] but was extended up to 2015 in 2012,[4][5] and another time until 2018 in 2015.[6] In 2017 the event was renamed the ATP Finals and the contract with the O2 Arena was extended to 2020.[7][8] In December 2018 it was announced that London, along with Manchester, Singapore, Tokyo and Turin were on a shortlist of five cities which made the cut from an initial list of 40 to host the event from 2021.[9] In April 2019 the ATP announced that Turin is going to host the ATP finals from 2021 to 2025.[10]
For many years, the doubles event was held as a separate tournament the week after the singles competition, but more recently they have been held together in the same week and venue.
For most of its history, the event has been considered as the most important indoor tennis tournament on the world tour (there were a few exceptions, when the event was organized outdoors: 1974 Melbourne & 2003–2004 Houston), allowing for controlled conditions of play, regarding both surface type and illumination system.
In recent years it has been played on indoor hard courts, however, indoor carpet has featured for many editions previously. Once when Melbourne hosted it in 1974 the grass courts of Kooyong Stadium were used[11] and occurred a few weeks before the 1974 Australian Open, which were also played on grass. Apart from 1974, all tournaments have been on a hard court variant, which has prompted calls, primarily from Rafael Nadal[12][13][14] to feature a mix of surfaces and include clay courts. However, this has drawn criticism[15] as well as suggestions to reduce the number of clay court tournaments in the season[16] and the ATP are not keen to change this aspect of the tournament.[17]
Qualification
There are eight players or teams, and playing is mandatory except for injury or other good cause.
Qualification is as follows:
(a) the top seven players in the ATP rankings (b) up to two grand slam winners ranked between 8 and 20 (in order of ATP ranking, if any such players exist) (c) the next players in the ATP rankings, until the quota of eight is reached.
Past finals
Singles
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Doubles
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Points, prize money and trophies
The ATP Finals currently (2020) rewards the following points and prize money, per victory:[19]
| Stage | Singles | Doubles1 | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Round Robin (each of 3 matches) | $153,000 | $30,000 | 200 |
| Semifinal | $402,000 | $56,000 | 400 |
| Final | $550,000 | $70,000 | 500 |
| Undefeated Champion | $1,564,000 | $284,500 | 1500 |
- 1 Prize money for doubles is per team.
There is also an appearance fee of $153,000 singles, and $68,500 per doubles team. The two alternates are paid $73,000 (singles) and $25,000 (doubles teams).
An undefeated champion would earn the maximum 1,500 points, and $2,114,000 in singles or $354,500 in doubles.
In addition, prizes include the Barclays ATP Singles and Doubles World Tour Finals Trophies and the ATP Tour World No.1 Trophy, all made by London-based silversmiths Thomas Lyte.[20][21]
Format
Unlike all other singles events on the men's tour, the ATP Finals is not a straightforward knock-out tournament. Eight players are divided into two groups of four and play three round-robin matches each against the other players in their group. The two players with the best records in each group progress to the semifinals, with the winners meeting in the final to determine the champion. Though it is theoretically possible to advance to the semi-finals of the tournament with two round-robin losses no player in the history of the singles tournament has won the title after losing more than one round-robin match.
The current round robin format of two groups of four players progressing to a semifinal and final, has been in place for all editions of the tournament except the following years:
- 1970, 1971 – Round robin with no semifinals or finals, winner decided on best performed player
- 1982, 1983, 1984 – 12 player knock-out tournament with no round robin. The top four seeds in the event received a bye in the first round.
- 1985 – 16 player knock-out tournament with no round robin
As of 2019, the top two players from each group advance to the semi-finals. Round-robin standings are determined by: 1) Number of wins; 2) Number of matches; 3) In two-players-ties, head-to-head results; 4) In three-players-ties, percentage of sets won, then head-to-head result (if two players tied in percentage of sets won and third one is "different") or percentage of games won if all three players have same percentage of sets won, then head-to-head results; 5) ATP rankings.[22]
Sponsors
The tournament has traditionally been sponsored by the title sponsor of the tour; however, in 1990–2008 the competition was non-sponsored, even though the singles portion of the event as part of the ATP tour was sponsored by IBM. In 2009, the tournament gained Barclays PLC as title sponsor.[23] Barclays confirmed in 2015 that they would not renew their sponsorship deal once it expires in 2016.[24]
On 25 May 2017, it was announced that Nitto Denko will be the main sponsor for the tournament, at least until 2020.[25]
On 10 September 2020, NItto Denko announced it will extend its title partnership of the ATP Finals for another 5 years, until 2025.[26]
Venues
| Location | Years | Surface | Stadium | Capacity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tokyo, Japan | 1970 | Carpet (i)[27] | Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium | 6,500 |
| Paris, France | 1971 | Stade Pierre de Coubertin | 5,000 | |
| Barcelona, Spain | 1972 | Hard (i) | Palau Blaugrana | 5,700 |
| Boston, United States | 1973 | Carpet (i)[28] | Boston Garden | 14,900 |
| Melbourne, Australia | 1974 | Grass | Kooyong Stadium | 8,500 |
| Stockholm, Sweden | 1975 | Carpet (i) | Kungliga tennishallen | 6,000 |
| Houston, United States | 1976 | The Summit | 16,300 | |
| New York City, United States | 1977–1989 | Madison Square Garden | 18,000 | |
| Frankfurt, Germany | 1990–1995 | Festhalle Frankfurt | 12,000 | |
| Hanover, Germany | 1996–1999 | Carpet (i) | Hanover Fairground | 15,000 |
| Hard (i) (1997) | ||||
| Lisbon, Portugal | 2000 | Hard (i) | Pavilhão Atlântico | 12,000 |
| Sydney, Australia | 2001 | Acer Arena | 17,500 | |
| Shanghai, China | 2002 | SNIEC | 10,000 | |
| Houston, United States | 2003–2004 | Hard | Westside Tennis Club | 5,240 |
| Shanghai, China | 2005–2008 | Carpet (i) | Qizhong Forest Sports City Arena | 15,000 |
| Hard (i) (2006–2008) | ||||
| London, United Kingdom | 2009–2020 | Hard (i) | O2 Arena[29] | 20,000 |
| Turin, Italy[30] | 2021–2025 | Pala Alpitour | 16,600 |
(i)=Indoors
Singles
- Active players marked in bold.
Doubles
Statistics
Most singles titles:[31]
Roger Federer – 6
Novak Djokovic – 5 
Ivan Lendl – 5 
Pete Sampras – 5
Ilie Năstase – 4
Most consecutive singles titles:
- Novak Djokovic – 4 (2012–2015)
- Ivan Lendl – 3 (1985–1987) Ilie Năstase – 3 (1971–1973)
- Roger Federer – 2 (2003–2004), (2006–2007), (2010–2011) Pete Sampras – 2 (1996–1997) John McEnroe – 2 (1983–1984)
Björn Borg – 2 (1979–1980) .svg.png.webp)
Lleyton Hewitt – 2 (2001–2002) Ivan Lendl – 2 (1981–1982)
Most singles match wins:
- Roger Federer – 59
- Ivan Lendl – 39
- Novak Djokovic – 38
Boris Becker – 36- Pete Sampras – 35
Most singles match wins % (minimum 10 matches played):
- Ilie Năstase – 88.0% (22–3)
- Ivan Lendl – 79.6% (39–10)
- Roger Federer – 77.6% (59–17)
- Boris Becker – 73.5% (36–13)
- Björn Borg – 72.7% (16–6)
Most singles appearances:
- Roger Federer – 17 (2002–2015, 2017–2019)
- Andre Agassi – 13 (1988–1991, 1994, 1996, 1998–2003, 2005) Novak Djokovic – 13 (2007–2016, 2018–2020)
- Ivan Lendl – 12 (1980–1991)
- Boris Becker – 11 (1985–1992, 1994–1996) Jimmy Connors – 11 (1972–1973, 1977–1984, 1987) Pete Sampras – 11 (1990–2000)
Youngest singles champion:
- John McEnroe – 19 years, 11 months (1978)
Oldest singles champion:
- Roger Federer – 30 years, 3 months (2011)
Most doubles titles:[31]
- Peter Fleming – 7 John McEnroe – 7
- Mike Bryan – 5
- Bob Bryan – 4
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Daniel Nestor – 4
Most consecutive doubles titles:
- Peter Fleming – 7 (1978–1984) John McEnroe – 7 (1978–1984)
- Stefan Edberg – 2 (1985–1986) Anders Järryd – 2 (1985–1986) Bob Bryan – 2 (2003–2004) Mike Bryan – 2 (2003–2004) Daniel Nestor – 2 (2007–2008), (2010–2011)
Henri Kontinen – 2 (2016–2017) John Peers – 2 (2016–2017)
Most doubles match wins:
- Mike Bryan – 42
- Bob Bryan – 38
- Daniel Nestor – 34
- Todd Woodbridge – 29
- Anders Järryd – 25 Mark Woodforde – 25
Most doubles match wins % (minimum 10 matches played):
- John McEnroe – 100% (14–0)
- Peter Fleming – 88.9% (16–2)
- Anders Järryd – 78.1% (25–7)
- Jacco Eltingh – 76.9% (20–6)
- Stefan Edberg – 75% (9–3)
Most doubles appearances:
- Mike Bryan – 16 (2001, 2003–2006, 2008–2018)
- Bob Bryan – 15 (2001, 2003–2006, 2008–2017)
- Daniel Nestor – 15 (1995–1998, 2003–2012, 2014)
Leander Paes – 14 (1997–2001, 2005–2013)- Mahesh Bhupathi – 12 (1997–2001, 2003–2004, 2008–2012)
Mark Knowles – 12 (1995–1998, 2001, 2003–2009)
Youngest doubles champion:
- John McEnroe – 19 years, 11 months (1978)
Oldest doubles champion:
- Mike Bryan – 40 years, 7 months (2018)
Year-end championships triple
Winning the Masters Cup, the WCT Finals and the Grand Slam Cup during his career.
- The event at which the year-end championships triple was achieved indicated in bold below:
| # | Player | Grand Prix/ATP Masters Cup | WCT Finals | Grand Slam Cup |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Boris Becker | 1988 | 1988 | 1996 |
Year-end championships doubles
Winning the Masters Cup and the WCT Finals, or the Masters Cup and the Grand Slam Cup, or the WCT Finals and the Grand Slam Cup.
- The event at which the year-end championships double was achieved indicated in bold below:
Masters Cup – WCT Finals
| # | Player | Grand Prix/ATP Masters Cup | WCT Finals |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Stan Smith | 1970 | 1973 |
| 2 | Jimmy Connors | 1977 | 1977 |
| 3 | John McEnroe | 1978 | 1979 |
| 4 | Björn Borg | 1979 | 1976 |
| 5 | Ivan Lendl | 1981 | 1982 |
| 6 | Boris Becker* | 1988 | 1988 |
* he later completed the Y-EC Triple
Masters Cup – Grand Slam Cup
| # | Player | Grand Prix/ATP Masters Cup | Grand Slam Cup |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pete Sampras | 1991 | 1990 |
| 2 | Michael Stich | 1993 | 1992 |
| 3 | Boris Becker* | 1988 | 1996 |
* with the 1996 Grand Slam Cup title he also completed the Y-EC Triple
WCT Finals – Grand Slam Cup
| # | Player | WCT Finals | Grand Slam Cup |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Boris Becker* | 1988 | 1996 |
* with the 1996 Grand Slam Cup title he also completed the Y-EC Triple
Year-end championships generations double
Winning the ATP Finals and the Next Gen ATP Finals during his career.
- The event at which the year-end championships generations double was achieved indicated in bold below:
| # | Player | ATP Finals | Next Gen ATP Finals |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Stefanos Tsitsipas | 2019 | 2018 |
References
- "Why Indian Wells Is Almost (But Not Quite) a Fifth Slam".
- John Barrett, ed. (1991). The International Tennis Federation : World of Tennis 1991. London: Collins Willow. pp. 116, 140. ISBN 9780002184038.
Besides the prize money of $2,020,000, there were also ranking points at stake for the first time at a season ending play-off
- Piers Newbery (3 July 2007). "London to host World Tour Final". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 7 March 2016.
- "ATP finals to stay in London through 2015". The Times Of India. Archived from the original on 2012-11-08. Retrieved 2012-07-11.
- "ATP World Tour Finals to be showcased in London till 2015". Archived from the original on 2012-11-13. Retrieved 2012-09-11.
- "ATP Confirms London As Host City Through 2018 As 2015 Season Finale Is Officially Launched | ATP World Tour | Tennis". ATP World Tour. Archived from the original on 2016-11-17. Retrieved 2016-11-16.
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- "ATP urged to change Finals surface to give Rafael Nadal a better chance". Tennis365.com. 2018-12-15. Retrieved 2018-12-17.
- Ubha, R. (5 November 2013). "Nadal and Federer at loggerheads over ATP World Finals". CNN. Retrieved 17 December 2018.
- "Does the clay-court season take up too much of the tennis calendar?". ESPN.com. 2018-05-22. Retrieved 2018-12-17.
- "ATP Finals won't be played on clay, says Chris Kermode". Tennis World USA. Retrieved 2018-12-17.
- "ATP sets Double Challenge Cup for Jan. 29-Feb. 2 in Bangalore". Associated Press AP. 2002-01-16. Archived from the original on 2012-11-04. Retrieved 2008-11-03.
- "Points and Prize Money - Nitto ATP Finals". nittoatpfinals.com. Archived from the original on 1 November 2017. Retrieved 9 May 2018.
- "Thomas Lyte lifts Webb Ellis Cup". 2015-09-15. Archived from the original on 2015-11-17. Retrieved 2015-11-13. Thomas Lyte Lifts Webb Ellis Cup
- "In pictures: Sporting trophy workshop". BBC News. 9 May 2018. Archived from the original on 27 November 2017. Retrieved 9 May 2018.
- "Semi-final Qualifying Procedure". Nitto ATP Finals.
- "ATP agree $35 million deal for showpiece tournament". Reuters. 2008-06-18. Archived from the original on 2010-11-07.
- "Barclays to end World Tour Finals sponsorship". BBC News. 4 November 2015. Archived from the original on 7 November 2015. Retrieved 13 November 2015.
- "ATP extends season-finale in London through 2020 with new title partner Nitto Denko Corporation". London: Nitto ATP Finals. 25 May 2017. Archived from the original on 27 September 2017. Retrieved 28 August 2017.
- "ATP & Nitto Denko Corporation Extend Partnership Until 2025". ATP Tour. 10 September 2020. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
- "Two for Smith". The Province. 6 December 1971. p. 17.
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- Turin To Host ATP Finals From 2021 To 2025
- "Barcays ATP World Tour Finals – Historical Stats". ATP Tour. Retrieved 6 December 2014.
External links
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to ATP Finals. |
- Official website (in English, Spanish, and Japanese)
- TennisTV: Official live streaming website