Tennis sports tournaments have been around for ages, taking place throughout various continents. Every year, thousands of avid tennis enthusiasts, including spectators and bettors, experience the astonishing atmosphere of world-renowned tennis players at the incredible major tournaments.
The history of some tournaments takes root in the 19th century, gathering like-minded people with the same interests for decades. For all newcomers to the tennis world who either want to attend or watch competitions, we introduce to you the top 5 best tennis tournaments today. Below you will discover the significance and historical legacy of each tournament, the best players competing in each tournament, and the role of each tournament on a global scale.
Australian Open
Each tennis season starts with the opening grand slam (happy slam) in Melbourne Park at the Australian Open. This is the first major tournament in the new season to be played on a hard-court surface since 1988. It features singles and doubles for men and women, as well as junior championships.
The Australian Open is an essential season phase and one of the most awaited moments for all sports fans, as it demonstrates the current player’s conditions and creates expectations for future season matches. Due to the fact that the Australian Open starts the season, it gathers over a million people every year, labeling it as one of the most attended tennis tournaments.
Main Courts and Winners
Melbourne Part features six courts, and half of them have an arena roof, which makes them appropriate for various weather conditions. Such huge and comfortable courts can accommodate almost 100,000 people in a single-day attendance. The total prize pool of AUD 86,500,000 (in 2024) is distributed among men and women equally, giving over AUD 3,000,000 to the singles trophy winner. Let’s discover the winners of 2024 in each category:
- Jannik Sinner is the men’s singles champion, with runner-up Daniil Medvedev (2024).
- Aryna Sabalenka is the women’s singles champion, with runner-up Zheng Qinwen (2024).
Wimbledon
Wimbledon is the oldest and most prestigious tennis contest in the world, and it has been held in England since 1877.
Although it’s played outdoors on a grass surface, it has two courts with roofs that allow it to eliminate the risk of poor weather conditions. Yes, it pays tribute to the origins of tennis courts, holding only grass-court games following the traditions. Also, its history does not allow it to break traditions, thus, it has a white dress code, regular appearances of the Royal Family, and fresh strawberries and cream.
Wimbledon is the second Grand Slam tournament that features men’s, women’s, and junior’s singles and doubles. The total prize pool exceeds £44 million, which is spread among men and women equally. Singles champions receive £2.3 million in prize money. These extremely awaited games are available for predictions at the sportsbook with the best lines and odds. Check out this page, and learn more about betting on tennis.
The format of Gentelment’s singles remains traditional, consisting of best-of-five sets. However, since 2023, the format of doubles has changed to best-of-three. When it comes to ladies’s Singles and doubles, the format stays the same: best of three. Some events follow the single-elimination format, which immediately eliminates the losers after the loss. Some, such as Gentlemen’s Senior Gentlemen and the Ladies’ Invitation Doubles, are played based on the round-robin format.
- Carlos Alcaraz is the men’s singles champion (2024).
- Barbora Krejčíková is the women’s singles champion (2024).
US Open
The US hosts the final Grand Slam of the year, which takes place at the US National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, New York. It differs from Australian and English tournaments having a lovely and relaxing atmosphere.
The US Open is an outstanding hard-court tournament with enormous prize pools, which are considered the biggest in the tennis world. It features men’s and women’s singles, doubles, and mixed, where singles champions are awarded with $3,000,000 (2023). After 143 years and zero missed tournaments, even during the World Wars, it’s known for its spectacular games of best tennis players and incredible 22 outdoor courts. Such a huge effort to the US Open allowed the final Grand Slam to be extremely awaited. Let’s briefly speak about the formats.
Since 2021, the rules of a tie-break have changed, extending the tiebreaker to ten points when it reaches six-all in the final set. The idea was to standardize the Grand Slam tournaments, ensuring consistency and reducing the fatigue and stress on players.
- Novak Djokovic is the men’s singles champion (2023).
- Coco Gauff is the women’s singles champion (2023).
Monte-Carlo Masters
Such an event is also known as the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters, an extremely famous tennis tournament that takes place in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, France, close to Monaco. All participants can experience the picturesque views of the courts at Franch Riviera. As a result, Masters in France is one of the most satisfying to watch.
It is part of the ATP Tour Masters 1000 events and features top-ranked players, such as Raphael Nadal, who became the men’s singles winner eleven times. He is also a record holder of most titles, most finals, and most consecutive titles and finals. Raphael has won 10 out of 11 finals at the Monte-Carlo Masters.
The tournament was established in 1896 and has been providing clay courts at the Monte-Carlo Country Club since then. The latest champion is Stefanos Tsitsipas, runner-up Casper Ruud. You can familiarize yourself with the main peculiarities of this contest on their official website to explore the prize pools, sponsors, best players, and other data.
ATP Finals
It’s a men’s annual season-ending tournament that features the top 8 finalists in singles and the top 8 players in doubles based on the results throughout the year. Thus, it’s one of the most intriguing events in the tennis world.
The format differs from the regular ATP Tour games, allowing each player to play together using the round-robin format three times. After the round-robin, each tennis player has a chance to get to the semi-finals and then to the finals, where the champion is determined.
Since the first tournament held in 1970, the biggest record holder is Novak Djokovic, who won seven trophies. The maximum number of points to collect at the ATP Finals is 1500. But to get this amount, the participant must break through the opponents of round-robin undefeated.
- Novak Djokovic is the men’s singles champion (2023).
The payouts for champions are usually quite impressive. In 2022, Novak Djokovic became the ATP champion by winning in singles competitions and earned a world-record payout of $4,740,300.
Historically, the tournament was called the Masters Grand Prix. The International Lawn Tennis Federation has organized it since its beginning in 1970. Initially, it did not give any points to the participants and remained only for showpiece event purposes. Only after 20 years did the results of the ATP Finals change the positions of players in the score table.
The tournament has changed its name several times, being called Master Grand Prix, ATP Tour World Championships, Tennis Masters Cup, ATP World Tour Finals, and now, the current name is ATP Finals. Nowadays, the tournament is held indoors on the hard courts. Thus, it makes it more accurate for players without any disturbing factors, such as weather conditions.
How to Qualify for the ATP Finals?
As far as the finals are the most awaited tournament that triggers champions, and it only consists of the top 8 players, it’s extremely complicated to qualify. Let’s briefly examine the procedure and essential criteria to get into the finals.
- Players are sorted out based on their scored points throughout the ATP Race season.
- Only the top 7 players are qualified automatically. The eighth finalist is determined by the performance in the major events. Whoever wins the major event and manages to reach the score table, being from 8 to 20 positions, can claim to qualify for the ATP finals.
- If two or more players win the Grand Slam, the highest-ranked player by the number of points will enter the pool of finalists who can win the biggest trophy.
- If there’s no such player, the eight-player will be determined by his position in the rank.
In addition, two alternates can play in the ATP finals if someone withdraws from the tournament. They are determined by their scores in the ratings, even though they could not qualify.
Conclusion
Tennis is a world-renowned sports competition with a long history. With a contemporary approach to tennis and other sports through online platforms, social media of famous players, and sports betting platforms, tennis is becoming increasingly demanding. We can experience the land-based experience of major tournaments at the famous courts of Australia, England, the USA, and other countries or watch tennis tournaments online.
The beauty of tennis today is the presence of numerous bright professionals with unique playing styles, extraordinary talents, and exclusive characters. And we, as tennis fans, can follow each training activity of tennis celebs, make our predictions, and watch the hard battles via the screens of our TVs, phones, and desktops.
