What is the PIF ATP Live Rankings?
PIF ATP Live Rankings, which are calculated in real-time as matches finish, reflect points added and dropped by players during the current tournament week. Depending on several factors (explained further down in this FAQ) a player may add points with each match he wins during the week.
As matches are completed, players will dynamically rise and fall in the PIF ATP Live Rankings. The PIF ATP Live Rankings also show how many points a player will have by winning his next match and the maximum number of points he will have at week’s end, should he win the title.
As such, PIF ATP Live Rankings serve as a predictor of where players will be situated in the next-published PIF ATP Rankings.
What is the PIF ATP Rankings?
The PIF ATP Rankings is known colloquially by fans as 'the world rankings'. For example, when Novak Djokovic is No. 1 in the PIF ATP Rankings, he is said to be the No. 1 player in the world. Or a player who is No. 7 in the PIF ATP Rankings is said to be a 'Top 10 player'.
The PIF ATP Rankings is the ATP's historical, objective, merit-based method used for determining entry and seeding in all tournaments for both singles and doubles, except as modified for the Nitto ATP Finals.
Why introduce PIF ATP Live Rankings?
We know that fans and media have a strong interest in linking match-by-match results to positional moves in the traditional PIF ATP Rankings. We want to help amplify this narrative during tournaments, especially in the immediate aftermath of high-stakes matches, rather than wait until the end of the week for the completion of the tournament and for the PIF ATP Rankings to be run.
PIF ATP Live Rankings will better reflect the current standing of players, contextualising what a big victory - or defeat – means to their position in the sport, relative to their rivals.
With the introduction of PIF ATP Live Rankings, what purpose does the traditional PIF ATP Rankings serve?
PIF ATP Rankings will continue to be used for tournament entry and seedings.
The PIF ATP Rankings also will be used as the measure of milestone achievements. For example, a player who enters the Top 10 of PIF ATP Live Rankings midweek but slips outside the Top 10 of the PIF ATP Live Rankings later in the week (and thus does not appear in the Top 10 of the next PIF ATP Rankings), will not be considered a ‘Top 10 player’. A player will not be able to call himself World No. 1 unless he spends at least one week at No. 1 in the PIF ATP Rankings.
The PIF ATP Rankings began on 23 August 1973 and has continued through today as the official ranking system in men's professional tennis and will continue to allow for historical comparisons between players and eras. For example, being able to identify how many weeks a player has spent in the Top 10 or as World No. 1 is a measure of a player’s standing among his peers and provides historical context.
When will PIF ATP Live Rankings reset?
On Sunday nights when the PIF ATP Rankings are calculated, PIF ATP Live Rankings will reset to look ahead to the coming tournament week. This reset removes points earned by players in the upcoming tournament week 52 weeks ago.
So, if a player is defending 500 points earned 52 weeks ago, his points total in the PIF ATP Live Rankings may show 500 points fewer than his points total in the PIF ATP Rankings. Thus, in this example, the player’s Live ATP Ranking may be lower than his ATP Ranking. This is true whether the player is competing in the current week or not.
If a player wins a match at a non-mandatory event, will his points total in the PIF ATP Live Rankings always increase?
No. Points earned must exceed the lowest score among his non-mandatory breakdown for the live points total to increase. For example, if a player’s lowest score is 45 points, the player must earn more than 45 points in the current week to increase his points total in the PIF ATP Live Rankings.
If a player wins a match at a mandatory event, will his points total in the PIF ATP Live Rankings always increase?
Yes, at mandatory events like Grand Slams and ATP Masters 1000s, an eligible player must count his result, whether or not he participates. Before the mandatory tournament begins, a player will drop the points he earned at the event last year. Those points will not be replaced by his best non-countable score. A player who did not play the mandatory event the previous year will drop the lowest points value from his rankings points breakdown.
Therefore, all points earned at the mandatory event will count towards the live points total as soon as a player wins a match.
How will points dropping be factored in?
If a player is dropping (also known as defending) 90 points, will his PIF ATP Live Rankings total drop by 90 points when the PIF ATP Live Rankings reset at the beginning of a tournament week?
It depends. If a player does not have a non-countable score with a points value higher than zero (either because he hasn’t played enough events or because he has earned zero points at some events he has played), then his PIF ATP Live Rankings points total will drop by the full 90 points.
If a player does have a non-countable score with a value greater than zero (e.g. 20 points), the highest of those non-countable scores becomes part of his PIF ATP Live Rankings points total when PIF ATP Live Rankings reset at the start of the current tournament week. For example, if a player is dropping 90 points in the current week and he has a non-countable score of 20, then his PIF ATP Live Rankings points total at the beginning of the new tournament week will be 70 points lower than his PIF ATP Rankings total (representing the difference between the 90-point score dropping and being replaced by the 20 points, which had been a non-countable score until the drop occurred).
The player’s live points total will only increase during the week if he earns more than 20 points. At an ATP 250 category tournament, a player receives 20 points for reaching the second round. In this example, a player would need to reach the quarter-finals, which offers 45 points, to improve his live points total by 25 points (45 points comes into a player’s rankings breakdown, displacing the 20 points, which earlier in the week was the lowest score counting towards his rankings points breakdown.
Will PIF ATP Live Rankings be used to mark milestones?
No. PIF ATP Rankings remain the measure of milestone achievements.
If a player breaks into the Top 10 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings during the week but does not appear in the Top 10 of the next PIF ATP Rankings, can that player claim to be a Top 10 player?
Let’s assume, for example, that Player A is close to replacing Player B in the Top 10 of the PIF ATP Rankings. Player A temporarily passes Player B in the PIF ATP Live Rankings by playing and winning his quarter-final match Thursday, only because Player B doesn’t get the opportunity to play and win his quarter-final match until Friday. Subsequently, Player A loses his semi-final match while Player B goes on to win the tournament and retain his position in the Top 10 of the PIF ATP Rankings. In circumstances like this, Player A would not be considered a Top 10 player.
If a player rises to the top of the PIF ATP Live Rankings, will he be known as World No. 1?
No. The logic is the same as outlined above about being a Top 10 player.
If a player rises to No. 1 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings during the week but does not appear as No. 1 in the next PIF ATP Rankings, that player cannot claim to be a World No. 1.
On the PIF ATP Live Rankings table, why are some rows highlighted in blue?
Players in blue rows are still active in a tournament. All other players are either not playing in the current week or have lost.
What do all the columns in the PIF ATP Live Rankings table indicate?
What does the +/- Rank arrow indicate?
This reflects the difference between a player’s position in the last PIF ATP Rankings and his dynamic position in the PIF ATP Live Rankings. It also is a projection of where a player will be positioned in the next PIF ATP Rankings.
What is the Live Points column?
This shows a player’s real-time rankings points breakdown, which reflects points dropped at the beginning of the week and any points added in the current week that become part of his breakdown (explained above).
What is the Official Points column?
This shows a player’s points value in the PIF ATP Rankings and remains unchanged during the week.
What does the +/- Points column indicate?
The difference in points between the PIF ATP Rankings and the PIF ATP Live Rankings.
What does the Next Points column represent?
Total points a player will have if he wins his next match.
What does the Max Points column represent?
Points a player will have (both in the PIF ATP Live Rankings and the next PIF ATP Rankings) should he win the tournament he is contesting that week.
Completed ITF Men’s World Tennis Tour results will be added to PIF ATP Live Rankings when PIF ATP Live Rankings reset at the end of a week. This means that ITF Men’s World Tennis Tour points will be added to the Live Rankings all at once and there will be no updates as matches complete.
Why are ITF Men’s World Tennis Tour points not added as soon as matches complete?
Adding the tournament points for ITF Men’s World Tennis Tour tournaments immediately would cause the PIF ATP Live Rankings to not match the PIF ATP Rankings on the following Sunday when the PIF ATP Rankings are published. The PIF ATP Live Rankings are intended to be a predictor of what the next PIF ATP Rankings will look like and therefore ITF points are withheld until the PIF ATP Live Rankings are reset.
Why are Sunday Main Draw matches and Qualifying matches taking place on Saturday and Sunday not included in the PIF ATP Live Rankings as these matches complete?
These matches are part of tournaments that are to be added to the following week’s PIF ATP Rankings. Until the PIF ATP Live Rankings reset, these results will not be included because the PIF ATP Live Rankings are intended to match the PIF ATP Rankings at the end of the tournament week.
What is the Official Points column?
This shows a player’s points value in the PIF ATP Rankings and remains unchanged during the week.
What does the +/- Points column indicate?
The difference in points between the PIF ATP Rankings and the PIF ATP Live Rankings.
What does the Next Points column represent?
Total points a player will have if he wins his next match.
What does the Max Points column represent?
Points a player will have (both in the PIF ATP Live Rankings and the next PIF ATP Rankings) should he win the tournament he is contesting that week.
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