Atp Tennis
Founded in 1972, the ATP tennis tournament, also known as the Association of Tennis Professionals, has been operating and holding a number of matches in an annual basis for one main purpose – to protect the interests and passion of the professional male tennis players. Yes, they only cater to men, but currently ATP tennis is organizing the principal tennis tours worldwide, with the exception of the Grand Slam.
Essentially, the ATP tennis tour is composed of five major categories. Each of these categories has its own standards and rules for players to follow. They also differ in the type of prizes and titles offered, but what’s worth noting about all of them is that they are hosted to make the professional male tennis players more excited, with varying rules to follow and prizes to take.
Want to know the specifics of each of the ATP tennis categories? Below are the basics of each of them, so continue reading.
Tennis Masters Cup – Played every December of the year, this tennis tournament noted primarily for it hosting the top eight players in the world ranking of the men’s tennis. What sets this apart from the rest of the men’s tennis tournaments is that it comes not in a straightforward knock-out manner. So what happens during this tour is that the top eight players are divided into two groups, each composing of four players. The players then play in about three round-robin games; each involves the players playing against the other three on the group. The best two players are selected through such games, and the best two are in turn given the chance to advance to the semi-finals. The ones who made the best record in the semi-finals will then be set to do the championship.
ATP Masters Series – This ATP tennis category is composed of a series of nine tennis matches. This is held every year in North America and Europe, and is maintained mandatory for the male players occupying the top positions on the ATP professional circuit. This category was introduced in 1996, which then came out under the name Mercedes-Benz Super 9 series. It is known to cover a number of the most prestigious championships in the men’s division of tennis right after the Grand Slam tournaments. Today, the winners of the ATP Masters Series are awarded with lots of world ranking points.
ATP International Series Gold – So named because it is held internationally, the ATP International Series Gold is made to provide professional players of tennis the chance to get cash prizes and earn more ranking points. This tournament is categorized under the Master Series, yet above the International Series, and all of these are due to the amount of prize money and ranking points that the tournament offers. You can find the prize money ranging from $755,000 to $1,426,250.
ATP International Series – Another professional series of tournaments, this category is built and held internationally as part of the ATP tour. The only difference that this makes to the other ATP series of tournaments is that whoever wins under this category has the chance to get ranking points, plus a prize amount of $416,000 to $1,000,000, an amount higher than what is offered by the Challenger Series.
ATP Challenger Series – The fifth of the ATP tennis categories, the Challenger Series is the tournament that allows professional male tennis players to earn just enough ranking scores. This score is the one that provides them entry to the main draw of the ATP tennis. Just like the other four series, this too is administered and handled particularly by the ATP tour.
All of these divisions are handled by the ATP until these days. But more than that, it’s worth knowing that ATP is also administering two other prestigious tournaments in the tennis industry, the World Team Cup and the Tour of Champions. You can find more information about the ATP tennis schedule and results of the past and the latest 2007 ATP tennis cup by visiting the association’s official site on the web.