Tennis is a racket sport that can be played individually against a single opponent (singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over or around a net and into the opponent's court. The object of the game is to manoeuvre the ball in such a way that the opponent is not able to play a valid return. The player who is unable to return the ball validly will not gain a point, while the opposite player will.
The Women's Tennis Association (WTA) is the principal organizing body of women's professional tennis. It 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 the same calendar year, also referred to as the "Calendar-year Grand Slam" or "Calendar Slam". In doubles, a team may accomplish the Grand Slam playing together or a player may achieve it 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.
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 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.
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 125K series, and third-tier is the ITF Women's Circuit. The men's equivalent is the ATP Tour.
The ATP Tour is a worldwide top-tier tennis tour for men organized by the Association of Tennis Professionals. The second-tier tour is the ATP Challenger Tour and the third-tier is ITF Men's World Tennis Tour. The equivalent women's organisation is the WTA Tour.
The Italian Open, originally called the Italian International Championships, is a tennis tournament held in Rome, Italy. It is one of the most important clay tennis tournaments in the world with the men's competition being an ATP Tour Masters 1000 event on the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) tour, and the women's competition being a WTA 1000 event on the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) tour. The two events were combined in 2011. The tournament is played on clay courts, currently during the second week of May. The event is also known as the "Rome Masters" for male edition, as well as sponsored name "Internazionali BNL d'Italia". Rafael Nadal has won the men's singles title a record ten times.
The Paris Masters is an annual tennis tournament for male professional players held in Paris, France. It is played indoors at the AccorHotels Arena, in the neighborhood of Bercy. The event is part of the ATP Tour Masters 1000 on the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) Tour.
The Grand Prix tennis circuit was a professional tennis tour for male players that existed from 1970 to 1989. The Grand Prix and World Championship Tennis (WCT) were the two predecessors to the current tour for male players, the ATP Tour, with the Grand Prix being more prominent.
The Dubai Tennis Championships or Dubai Open is a professional tennis tournament owned and organized by Dubai Duty Free and held annually in Dubai, United Arab Emirates on outdoor hardcourts.
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 player has spent some time on the ITF Men's World Tennis Tour.
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 Croydon, 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. Most rules of (lawn) tennis derive from this precursor and it is reasonable to see both sports as variations of the same game. Most historians believe that tennis was originated in the monastic cloisters in northern France in the 12th century, but the ball was then struck with the palm of the hand; hence, the name jeu de paume. It was not until the 16th century that rackets came into use, and the game began to be called "tennis." It was popular in England and France, and Henry VIII of England was a big fan of the game, now referred to as real tennis.
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 Tour Masters 1000 tournaments, and ATP 500 tournaments. As of 2020, the series includes 39 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.
The Monte-Carlo Masters is an annual tennis tournament for male professional players held in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, France, a commune that borders on Monaco. The event is part of the ATP Tour Masters 1000 on the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) Tour. The tournament is played on clay courts and is held every year in the April–May period.
The 2022 WTA Tour is the global elite women's professional tennis circuit organised by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) for the 2022 tennis season. The 2022 WTA Tour calendar comprises the Grand Slam tournaments, the WTA 1000 tournaments, the WTA 500 tournaments, the WTA 250 tournaments, the Billie Jean King Cup, and the year-end championships.
The 2022 ATP Tour is the global elite men's professional tennis circuit organised by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for the 2022 tennis season. The 2022 ATP Tour calendar comprises the Grand Slam tournaments, the ATP Finals, the ATP Tour Masters 1000, the ATP Cup, the ATP 500 series and the ATP 250 series. Also included in the 2022 calendar are the Davis Cup, Next Gen ATP Finals, and Laver Cup, none of which distribute ranking points.
Julian Reister 
Guillermo García López 
Rui Machado 
Thomas Schoorel 
Martin Kližan 
Filippo Volandri 
Lamine Ouahab 
Sebastián Decoud 
Martin Fischer 
Rameez Junaid 
Jonathan Marray 
Andrei Dăescu 
Tomasz Bednarek 
Jeff Coetzee 
Jesse Witten