Tennis tournaments consist of many parts, but they can be simply broken down into tournament participation, draws, and prize money.
Tournament Participation
The main goal of the tennis tournament is to get as many high-ranked players as possible into the tournament. This brings more viewers to the tournament and thus visibility and income.
In lower-level tennis tournaments, the players themselves are responsible for the expenses related to the tournaments, such as participation, ball and court fees, and umpires’ fees. Lower-level tournaments are therefore more expensive for the players.
In ITF tournaments, for example, players usually pay their expenses, including an entry fee of around $15-40.
In high-level tournaments, the revenue from streaming and sponsors is higher, which helps to cover the players’ tournament fees. This means that players do not have to pay participation fees or court fees. In major tournaments such as the ATP, WTA, and Challenger, players are also usually offered free accommodation and food.
Draws
Almost every tennis tournament uses a draw format. Singles tournament draw ranges in size from 16 to 128 players. Major tournaments such as the ATP 1000 Masters are played with 96 players and Grand Slams are played with 128 players.
In the draw, two players play against each other and the loser is eliminated. For example, a 128-player draw would proceed like this:
- Round 128 players
- Round 64 players
- Round 32 players
- Round 16 players
- Round 8 players (Quarterfinals)
- Round 4 players (Seminifal)
- Round 2 players (Final)
Qualifiers
A tennis tournament usually consists of the main draw and qualifiers. Major tournaments start with a qualifying draw, which consists of players whose ranking is not high enough to qualify directly for the main draw. By winning the qualifying draw, players receive a spot in the main draw.
The qualifiers are played in the same way as the main draws but shortened. For example, a 128-player draw includes three rounds and 16 players receive a spot in the main draw.
The size of the qualifiers is relative to the size of the tournament. In smaller tournaments, the qualifying draw can cover 16 players while in Grand Slams the size of the qualifying draw is 128 players.
Main Draw
The main draw in major tournaments usually consists of 128 players, most of whom enter the draw directly via a high ATP ranking. Usually, in a 128-player draw, the 108 players with the highest ATP ranking will be directly placed into the main draw. The main draw places are filled with winners from the qualifiers and wild cards.
Seed
When creating the main draw, the top 16 players with the highest ranking are given a seed. For example, the best player in the tournament will be seeded 1, and so on. In the eyes of the tournament organizer, the seeded players are the best in the tournament. These seeded players can be identified by the number after their name.
After the seedings are created, the best players are spread across the draw so that they do not play against each other in the opening rounds. In particular, the first and second-seeded players are placed on different sides of the draw so that they cannot face each other before the final.
The idea of seedings is to give players a fair tournament where the best players don’t immediately have to face each other. This also makes the tournament more exciting, as viewers have to wait a few rounds before the top players play against each other.
Once the seedings have been created, the tournament organizer can draw the chart. The draw is created randomly by drawing lots, excluding ranked players.
Bye, Walkover And Scratch
As the tournament progresses, situations may occur where an opponent is injured or otherwise unable to play their match. These situations are referred to as Walkout, Scratch, and Bye. If an injury or other event occurs before the main draw, the player missing from the draw may be replaced by a player from the qualifying draw. Once a draw has been created, no further replacements will be made for missing players.
Bye = A situation where a player can progress from the first round of a tournament without having to play the first match. Happens usually in smaller tournaments where there aren’t enough players.
Walkover = A walkover is a situation where the opponent is unable to participate in the match and the other player automatically gets the “win” (however, a walkover is not an official win, which would be displayed in the results). This happens, for example, if an opponent has been injured after the previous match.
Scratch = Withdrawal from the match due to injury.
Lucky Loser
Lucky loser is also applied in some tournaments, which means that a player who loses in the qualifiers advances to the main draw because of another player’s withdrawal. Lucky Loser is usually given to the highest-ranking player.
Prize Money
The prize money consists of a prize pool, which pays out the money to all players participating in the tournament. For example, the prize pool for the US Open 2024 was $75 million.
The prize money is distributed on a per-round basis, so the further a player advances in the tournament, the more prize money they will receive. The source of the prize money usually consists of streaming and sponsorship revenue as well as accessory sales.
An example of the distribution of prize money for the US Open 2024:
| Men’s and Women’s Singles | Prize Money |
|---|---|
| Winner | $3,600,000 |
| Runner-Up | $1,800,000 |
| Semifinalists | $1,000,000 |
| Quarterfinalists | $530,000 |
| R4 – Round of 16 (players) | $325,000 |
| R3 – Round of 32 (players) | $215,000 |
| R2 – Round of 64 (players) | $140,000 |
| R1 – Round of 128 (players) | $100,000 |
| Men’s and Women’s Doubles | Prize Money |
|---|---|
| Winner | $750,000 |
| Runner-Up | $375,000 |
| Semifinalists | $190,000 |
| Quarterfinalists | $110,000 |
| Third Round | $63,000 |
| Second Round | $40,000 |
| First Round | $25,000 |
| Mixed Doubles | Prize Money |
|---|---|
| Winner | $200,000 |
| Runner-Up | $100,000 |
| Semifinalists | $50,000 |
| Quarterfinalists | $27,500 |
| Round of 16 | $16,500 |
| Round of 32 | $10,000 |
