2016 ATP World Tour Finals: Qualifying, Prize Money & Format

The ATP World Tour Finals has a unique format. Find out how the round robin format works, how the players qualify & how much prize money they receive.

The 2016 ATP World Finals is the final event of the year for men’s professional tennis. The final chance to get ranking points is up for grabs, plus $USD 7.5 million in prize money.

This year, the results will determine whether it’s Murray or Djokovic who finishes the year as World No.1.

The following information relates to the singles tournament which will be played from November 13-20 at The O2 Arena in London.

The Current Line Up

1. Andy Murray
2. Novak Djokovic
3. Stan Wawrinka
4. Milos Raonic
5. Kei Nishikori
6. Gael Monfils
7. Marin Cilic
8. Dominic Thiem

The Official Website

http://www.barclaysatpworldtourfinals.com

How players qualify

The tournament compiles a Selection List of:

• The top seven players in the ATP rankings as at the end of the regular season (after the Paris Masters), followed by
• Up to two Grand Slam winners of that year positioned between 8 and 20 in the ATP rankings, followed by
• Players 8 and below in the ATP rankings.

The top 8 players from the Selection List are taken as Direct Acceptances.

The next highest player in the Selection List is the Alternate, who has to be at the tournament and replaces one of the Direct Acceptances if they withdraw.

Players can be confirmed as qualifiers (Direct Acceptances) before the end of the regular season. This happens when that player’s lead over the ninth ranked player in the ATP Rankings is more than the maximum points available in the remaining tournaments.

How the ATP World Tour Finals tournament works

All matches, including the final, are best of three tie-break sets.

Round-robin

• The eight qualified players are split in to two groups of four players.
• The top seeded player is placed into group A. The second seeded player placed into group B.
• The third and fourth, fifth and sixth and seventh and eighth seeded players are put into pairs. The first drawn player from each pair is placed into group A, the other into group B.
• Each player shall play all the other players in his group (or Alternate if a player withdraws).

The group standings are based, in order of priority, on:

1. Number of wins
2. Number of matches played
3. If only two players are tied the winner of their round-robin match
4. If three players are tied it gets a bit more complicated. In this case:

i) If three players have one win apply 1), 2) and 3) above or
ii) Highest percentage of sets won or
iii) Highest percentage of games won.

If i), ii) and iii) produce one superior player or one inferior player and the other two are still tied, then the head to head result between the two tied players makes the final determination.

Any player who withdraws from the round-robin after the first round is ineligible for the semi-finals.

Semi-Finals

The top two players from each group go through to the semi-finals. The winner of group A play the runner-up from group B and vice-versa.

The two winning semi-finalists play for the title, but there isn’t a third and fourth play-off for the losing semi-finalists.

In 2016 the groups are named John McEnroe and Ivan Lendl.

ATP Ranking Points

ATP Ranking points are awarded on a matches won basis. The prize money comprises a participation fee and an amount determined on matches won.

ATP Ranking Points

Round-robin match win 200
Semi-final win 400
Final win 500

ATP World Tour Finals Prize Money (USD)

Round-robin match win $179,000
Semi-final win $545,000
Final win $1,130,000

Participation fee $179,000
Alternate fee $100,000

An undeafeted champion will receive 1500 ranking points and $2,391,000. Nice!

I’ll be heading to the tournament on Friday for both sessions, so stay tuned for more updates.

Until next time

Grand Slam Gal