ATP Finals

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.[3] 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".[3] 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.[4] 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 tournaments 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".[3] 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 championship was renamed the "ATP World Tour Finals" and was held at The O₂ in London.[3] The contract ran through 2013,[5] but was extended up to 2015 in 2012,[6][7] and another time until 2018 in 2015.[8] In 2017 the event was renamed the "ATP Finals"[3] and the contract with the O₂ Arena was extended to 2020.[9][10] 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.[11] In April 2019 the ATP announced that Turin is going to host the ATP finals from 2021 to 2025.[12]

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[13] 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[14][15][16] to feature a mix of surfaces and include clay courts. However, this has drawn criticism[17] as well as suggestions to reduce the number of clay court tournaments in the season[18] and the ATP are not keen to change this aspect of the tournament.[19]

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.

In 2020, in an effort (because of the COVID-19 pandemic) to reduce the number of staff on-site, the ATP decided to introduce an Electronic Line-Calling powered by Hawk-Eye Live and Video Review. Instead of line judges, movement-activated and an "automated" voice were used for the calls "Out", "Foot Fault" and "Fault". Video Review was used for suspected not-ups, foul shots, touches and other reviewable calls.[20]

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.[21] Barclays confirmed in 2015 that they would not renew their sponsorship deal once it expires in 2016.[22] On 25 May 2017, it was announced that Nitto Denko will be the main sponsor for the tournament, at least until 2020.[23] On 10 September 2020, Nitto Denko announced it will extend its title partnership of the ATP Finals for another 5 years, until 2025.[24]

1970–1989; Masters Grand Prix

1990–1999; ATP Tour World Championships

2000–2008; Tennis Masters Cup

2009–2016; ATP World Tour Finals

2017–present; ATP Finals

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.[25]

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.

The ATP Finals currently (2021) rewards the following points and prize money, per victory:[31]

• ¹ Prize money for doubles is per team.
• An undefeated champion would earn the maximum 1,500 points, and $2,316,000 in singles or $429,000 in doubles.

In addition, prizes include the ATP Finals trophy and the ATP No. 1 trophy, all made by London-based silversmiths Thomas Lyte.[32][33]

• Winning the Year-end Championships in both singles and doubles in the same year.

Player	Year
John McEnroe	1978 (S–D), 1983 (S–D), 1984 (S–D)
Stan Smith	1970 (S–D)

In a career: Manuel Orantes (1975, 1976) and Stefan Edberg (1985, 1989).