Association of Tennis Professionals

The Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) is the group that helps run the men's professional tennis tours around the world. It was started in September 1972 by Donald Dell, Jack Kramer, and Cliff Drysdale to support tennis players and make sure they are treated fairly. Drysdale was the first person to lead the group as its president.

Since 1990, the ATP has been in charge of the main men's tennis tour, which is called the ATP Tour. This tour includes many important matches and tournaments that players compete in all over the world. The ATP used to be called the ATP Tour, but its name has changed a few times over the years. By 2019, it was known simply as the ATP, and the tour was called the ATP Tour again.

The ATP grew from older tennis tours known as the Grand Prix tennis tournaments and World Championship Tennis (WCT). The main office of the ATP is located in London. There are also offices in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida for the Americas, Monaco for Europe, and Sydney, Australia for areas including Africa, Asia, and Australasia.

Early history

See also: Grand Prix tennis circuit and World Championship Tennis

The Association of Tennis Professionals started in 1972 by Jack Kramer, Donald Dell, and Cliff Drysdale. It was made to help men's tennis players. Jack Kramer was in charge at first, and Cliff Drysdale became the first president. They created a way to rank players, which we still use today.

In 1973, some top players did not play at Wimbledon because one player from Yugoslavia was not allowed to compete. The ATP asked for him to be allowed back, but he wasn’t, so many players chose not to play. Later, in 1988, players were unhappy with how tennis was being run, so they decided to make big changes. This led to the start of the ATP Tour in 1990.

In 2022, because of a big problem between Russia and Ukraine, the ATP moved a tournament from Russia to Kazakhstan. They also took away ranking points from Wimbledon for not allowing some players to compete.

Tournaments

The ATP Tour includes different levels of tournaments such as ATP Masters 1000, ATP 500, and ATP 250. The ATP also looks after the ATP Challenger Tour and the ATP Champions Tour for older players. Some big tournaments like the Grand Slam events and the Olympic tennis tournament are organized by other groups, but players can still earn points for these.

Each year, players with the most points get to compete in the ATP Finals. In 2009, the ATP changed its tour structure, renaming some tournaments and moving others. The Masters 1000 tournaments include places like Indian Wells, Miami, and Paris. There are also many 500 level tournaments around the world.

2009 changes

ATP rankings

Main article: ATP rankings

The ATP publishes weekly rankings for professional tennis players. These rankings help decide who can play in tournaments and where players are placed in draws. There are two main types: the ATP rankings, which look at the past year, and the ATP Race to Turin, which shows how players are doing so far this year. Players earn points for their wins, and the player with the most points at the end of the season is called the world No. 1.

The Race to Turin helps predict who will qualify for big events like the ATP Finals. In 2009, the points system was changed to make it fairer with the new tournament rankings.

Current rankings

Organizational structure

As of January 1, 2020, Andrea Gaudenzi is the chairman of the ATP. In September 2025, Eno Polo was appointed as the chief executive officer.

The ATP Board of Directors includes the chairman, along with four tournament representatives and four player representatives. The player representatives are chosen by the ATP Player Council. The current board members are:

• Chairman: Andrea Gaudenzi
• Player representatives
  • Pablo Andújar
  • Luben Pampoulov
  • Mark Knowles
  • Warren Green
• Tournament representatives
  • Gavin Forbes
  • Christer Hult
  • Chris Kermode
  • Herwig Straka

The ATP Player Advisory Council gives advice to the Board of Directors, which can choose to accept or reject the council's ideas. As of 2026, the Council includes players ranked within the top 50 in singles (Andrey Rublev, Nuno Borges, Pedro Martinez, and Zizou Bergs), players ranked between 51 and 100 in singles (Camilo Ugo Carabelli and Mackenzie McDonald), top 50 players in doubles (Andrea Vavassori and Marcelo Arevalo), and other members including Jaume Munar and Zhang Zhizhen.