How the wheelchair tennis rankings work
The International Tennis Federation (ITF) ranks wheelchair tennis players in three categories, men, women and quad, separately for singles and doubles. Like the ATP and WTA:
- players earn points for how far they get in a tournament;
- bigger tournaments give more points: a Grand Slam title is worth 1,200, the season-ending Masters up to 1,200, a WT1000 title 1,000, down to 25 for a WT25 title;
- the ranking adds up a player's best 12 results (best 10 for quad) from the last 52 weeks.
Grand Slams and the Masters are mandatory: a player who qualifies but does not play gets zero counted in their best 12.
Main draw points (singles and doubles)
| Grade | Draw | Winner | Runner-up | Semi-final | Quarter-final | Last 16 | Last 24 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grand Slam | 16 | 1,200 | 780 | 480 | 240 | 120 | |
| Grand Slam | 8 | 1,200 | 780 | 480 | 120 | ||
| WT1000 | 24 | 1,000 | 650 | 400 | 200 | 100 | 50 |
| WT500 | 24 | 600 | 390 | 240 | 120 | 60 | 30 |
| WT250 | 24 | 350 | 228 | 140 | 70 | 35 | 18 |
| WT175 | 24 | 200 | 130 | 80 | 40 | 20 | 1 |
| WT100 | 24 | 100 | 50 | 25 | 14 | 7 | 1 |
| WT50 | 32/24 | 50 | 25 | 14 | 8 | 4 | 1 |
| WT25 | 32/24 | 25 | 13 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 1 |
Smaller draws (16, 12 or 8 players) give somewhat fewer points; for example a 16-player WT1000 gives 800 to the winner.
Qualifying rounds give a few points too (60 for winning the last qualifying round at a Grand Slam; 1 to 25 at other grades). At WT175 and below, a qualifier gets qualifying points plus main draw points.
Masters (singles and doubles)
Points for each match won: 160 in the round robin, 320 in the semi-final, 400 in the final. An unbeaten champion of an eight-player Masters gets 3 × 160 + 320 + 400 = 1,200.
Paralympics and regional games
| Event | Winner | Runner-up | Semi-final | Quarter-final | Last 16 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paralympics, men (draw 64/56/48) | 750 | 525 | 336 | 186 | 103 |
| Paralympics, women (32) | 650 | 456 | 292 | 162 | 90 |
| Paralympics, quad (16) | 485 | 340 | 218 | 121 | 2 |
| Regional games (e.g. Asian Para Games), men (24) | 200 | 130 | 80 | 40 | 20 |
| Regional games, women (16) | 175 | 114 | 70 | 35 | 1 |
| Regional games, quad (12) | 175 | 114 | 70 | 35 | 1 |
In doubles, the rounds marked with an asterisk in the ITF table (for example the Paralympic women's last 16) give 2 points instead.
Who is ranked
A player needs points from two ranking tournaments in the last 52 weeks. Ranking tournaments: Grand Slams, WT1000 to WT25, the Masters, the World Team Cup (World Group and regional qualifying), the Paralympic Games and regional Paralympic games.
Ties: the player with fewer tournaments played goes higher; then the one with more points from the highest-level event (Masters, then Grand Slam, then WT1000 and so on).
Juniors: a separate junior ranking (boys and girls, singles) adds junior points to 25% of the player's adult singles points.
Top players must play up: the top 8 can play at most two WT175 events a year, the top 14 at most two WT100 events, and the top 20 cannot enter WT50 or WT25 events.
A worked example
Made up to show the arithmetic. A men's player's best results in 52 weeks: a Grand Slam quarter-final (240), a WT1000 semi-final (400), two WT500 titles (1,200), three WT250 finals (684), two WT175 titles (400), a WT100 title (100), a regional games gold (200) and a WT50 semi-final (14): 12 results. Total: 240 + 400 + 1,200 + 684 + 400 + 100 + 200 + 14 = 3,238.
Variations
| Ranking | Covered here |
|---|---|
| Men's, women's and quad, singles and doubles | Yes |
| Junior wheelchair tennis | Briefly |
| ATP and WTA (able-bodied) | Separate explainer |