ATP: More elite club instead of tennis tour from 2025?
More 500 tournaments, but fewer events in the 250 category. Will the ATP Tour become an exclusive elite circuit?
by Daniel Hofmann
last edit: Nov 09, 2023, 11:25 pm
The ATP Tour announced this week that the tournaments in Munich, Doha and Dallas will belong to the 500 category from 2025. This means that three long-standing tournaments, which previously awarded 250 ATP points to the winner, will in future give the respective title holder twice the number of points.
In addition to these three tournaments, the 250 weeks in Atlanta, Newport and Lyon will also be eliminated from 2025. According to the current status, these licenses will not be reissued. This means that from the year after next there will be three fewer tournaments in the ATP calendar. At the 250 level, six tournaments will be eliminated with the upgrade of the three new 500 events.
There is also ongoing talk of a Masters tournament in Saudi Arabia starting in 2025. This event will also only be a limited opportunity for players ranked 100th in the rankings to make a place on the ATP Tour. Even if the fields at many masters tournaments have grown.
More top 100 players on the Challenger Tour?
For players who do not occupy the top places in the top 100, the opportunities on the ATP Tour are becoming fewer. With the expansion of the 500 tournaments and the expansion of the Masters events, the ATP Tour is developing more and more into an elite tour. This could in turn lead to the Challenger Tour being used more by players who are among the top 100 players in the ranking in several weeks.
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