Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket strung with a cord to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over or around a net and into the opponent's court. The object is to manoeuvre the ball in such a way that the opponent is not able to play a valid return. If a player is unable to return the ball successfully, the opponent scores a point.
The Women's Tennis Association (WTA) is the principal organizing body of women's professional tennis. The association governs the WTA Tour, which is the worldwide professional tennis tour for women, and was founded to create a better future for women's tennis. The WTA's corporate headquarters is in St. Petersburg, Florida, with its European headquarters in London and its Asia-Pacific headquarters in Beijing.
The Grand Slam in tennis is the achievement of winning all four major championships in one discipline in a calendar year. In doubles, a Grand Slam may be achieved as a team or as an individual with different partners. Winning all four major championships consecutively but not within the same calendar year is referred to as a "non-calendar-year Grand Slam", while winning the four majors at any point during the course of a career is known as a "Career Grand Slam".
Kenneth Robert Rosewall is an Australian former world top-ranking professional tennis player. Rosewall won 147 singles titles, including a record 15 Pro Majors and 8 Grand Slam titles for a total 23 titles at pro and amateur majors ranks him second all time to Novak Djokovic on 24. He also won 15 Pro Majors in doubles and 9 Grand Slam doubles titles. Rosewall achieved a Pro Slam in singles in 1963 by winning the three Pro Majors in one year and he completed the Career Grand Slam in doubles.
The International Tennis Federation (ITF) is the governing body of world tennis, wheelchair tennis, and beach tennis. It was founded in 1913 as the International Lawn Tennis Federation by twelve national tennis associations. As of 2016, there are 211 national and six regional associations that make up the ITF's membership.
The Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) is the governing body of the men's professional tennis circuits – the ATP Tour, the ATP Challenger Tour and the ATP Champions Tour. It was formed in September 1972 by Donald Dell, Jack Kramer, and Cliff Drysdale to protect the interests of professional tennis players, and Drysdale became the first president. Since 1990 the association has organized the ATP Tour, the worldwide tennis tour for men and linked the title of the tour with the organization's name. It is the governing body of men's professional tennis. In 1990 the organization was called the ATP Tour, which was renamed in 2001 as just ATP and the tour being called ATP Tour. In 2009 the name of the tour was changed again and was known as the ATP World Tour, but changed again to the ATP Tour by 2019. It is an evolution of the tour competitions previously known as Grand Prix tennis tournaments and World Championship Tennis (WCT). The ATP's global headquarters are in London. ATP Americas is based in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida; ATP Europe is headquartered in Monaco; and ATP International, which covers Africa, Asia and Australasia, is based in Sydney, Australia.
The WTA Tour is a worldwide top-tier tennis tour for women organized by the Women's Tennis Association. The second-tier tour is the WTA 125 series, and third-tier is the ITF Women's World Tennis Tour. The men's equivalent is the ATP Tour.
The ATP Tour is the sole worldwide top-tier tennis tour for men organized by the Association of Tennis Professionals founded in 1990 that replaced the earlier dual Grand Prix Circuit and WCT Circuit. The second-tier tour is the ATP Challenger Tour and the third-tier is the ITF Men's World Tennis Tour. The equivalent women's organisation is the WTA Tour.
The Paris Masters is an annual indoor tennis tournament for male professional players held in Paris, France at the Accor Arena, in the neighborhood of Bercy, and is held in early November. The event is part of the Masters 1000 series on the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) Tour.
The ITF Grand Prix Circuit was a professional tennis tour for male players founded in 1970 as the ILTF Grand Prix Tennis Circuit it ran annually until 1989 when it and WCT Circuit were replaced by a single world wide ATP Tour.
The 2007 ATP Tour was the global elite men's professional tennis circuit organised by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for the 2007 tennis season. The ATP Tour is the elite tour for professional tennis organized by the Association of Tennis Professionals. The ATP Tour includes the four Grand Slam tournaments, the Tennis Masters Cup, the ATP Masters Series, the International Series Gold and the International Series tournaments.
The ITF Men's World Tennis Tour is a series of professional tennis tournaments held around the world that are organized by the International Tennis Federation. The tour represents the lowest rung of the men's professional tennis ladder. ITF tournaments are incorporated into the ATP rankings, enabling young professionals to progress on to the ATP Challenger Tour and ultimately the full ATP Tour. Nearly every professional male player has spent some time on the ITF Men's World Tennis Tour.
The ATP International Series was a series of professional tennis tournaments held internationally as part of the ATP Tour from 2000 to 2008.
ATP International Series Gold was a series of professional tennis tournaments held internationally between 2000 and 2008 that were part of the ATP Tour. The tournaments were positioned below the ATP Masters Series, and above the ATP International Series in terms of prize money and ranking points available.
The racket sport traditionally named lawn tennis, invented in Edgbaston, Warwickshire, England, now commonly known simply as tennis, is the direct descendant of what is now denoted real tennis or royal tennis, which continues to be played today as a separate sport with more complex rules.
The 2008 ATP Tour was the global elite men's professional tennis circuit organised by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for the 2008 tennis season. The ATP Tour is the elite tour for professional tennis organized by the Association of Tennis Professionals. The ATP Tour includes the four Grand Slam tournaments, the Tennis Masters Cup, the ATP Masters Series, the International Series Gold and the International Series tournaments.
The Wembley Championships was a men's professional tennis tournament held from 1934–1990 with some periods of inactivity in between and is often considered to be one of the three major professional tennis tournaments from 1927–1967 until the advent of the open era. Ken Rosewall's and Rod Laver's six singles titles are the record for this event. The tournament only had a men's draw.
The ATP 250 tournaments are the lowest tier of annual men's tennis tournaments on the main ATP Tour, after the four Grand Slam tournaments, ATP Finals, ATP Masters 1000 tournaments, and ATP 500 tournaments. As of 2024, the series includes 38 tournaments, with 250 ranking points awarded to each singles champion—which accounts for the name of the series. Draws consist of 28, 32, or 48 for singles and 16 for doubles. In 2025, the series includes only 30 tournaments after retirement of five tournaments and upgrades of three tournaments to the 500 level.
The ITF Women's World Tennis Tour, previously known as the ITF Women's Circuit, is a series of professional tennis tournaments run by the International Tennis Federation for female professional tennis players.
