THE STAGES OF A PROFESSIONAL TENNIS PLAYER


PROFESSIONAL TENNIS IS PLAYED AROUND
THE WORLD AT MANY LEVELS

There are thousands of players, both men and women, who are trying to make their way in the world of professional tennis. I thought it would be interesting to clarify the steps, in my opinion,  that a player must take to get all the way to the top. 

  1. No National Ranking & No ATP points
Can’t always get into the qualifying draw for local futures and must rely on wild cards

  1. National Ranking but no ATP Points
Possible to enter qualifying of Futures events because of his National ranking but not always accepted

  1. Enough ATP points to enter Futures qualifying
Must compete in the qualifying events where physical & mental fatigue can be a major obstacle in progressing deeper in the tournament

  1. Qualifies into the main draw consistently
But has trouble progressing much further because of the physical and mental demands of qualifying

  1. Enough Points to enter Main Draw Futures
Can win through rounds of main draw consistently

  1. Ability to Win Futures titles consistently
This allows the player to achieve a sufficiently high ranking (approx. 300) to get into the main draw of Challengers.

  1. Plays both Futures and Challenger qualifying
In order to maintain their ranking because success in Challengers is limited

  1. Able to enter Challengers
Must be able to consistently get through to quarters in Challengers to defend futures points from previous events over 12 month period

  1. Ability to win Challenger titles consistently & play ATP qualifying
Sights firmly on the main ATP Tour but needs to maintain ranking so continues with Challengers

  1. Able to enter into major ATP Events
Can achieve a sufficiently high ranking from success in Challengers to get into main draw of ATP events (approx. top 100)

  1. Seeded in Grand Slam events
Has a ranking inside top 32 ATP and avoids top seeded players Initially

  1.  Wins ATP events



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