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Tennis Grand Slams and rankings explained
Professional tennis runs almost all year, but four tournaments matter more than the rest: the Grand Slams, also called the majors. Around them sits a ranking system that decides who gets seeded, who gets into which events, and who is world No. 1. This guide covers the four majors, why the surfaces matter, the best-of-five format and how ATP and WTA ranking points work in broad terms.
The short version
- The four Grand Slams are the Australian Open (January, hard court), the French Open (late May to early June, clay), Wimbledon (late June to mid-July, grass) and the US Open (late August to early September, hard court).
- At the majors, men's singles matches are best of five sets and women's are best of three. Almost everywhere else, both are best of three.
- Since 2022, all four majors have used a first-to-10-points tiebreak when the deciding set reaches 6-6.
- The ATP (men) and WTA (women) rankings add up a player's best 18 results over a rolling 52 weeks. A Grand Slam title is worth 2,000 points on both tours.
- Points drop off a year after they are earned, so defending last year's results matters as much as winning new ones.
The four Grand Slams
Each major has a singles draw of 128 players, so a champion has to win seven matches over two weeks. Thirty-two players are seeded by ranking, which keeps them apart in the early rounds. Players ranked too low for direct entry can play a qualifying tournament for a place in the main draw.
- Australian Open: played at Melbourne Park in January, on hard courts. It is the first major of the season and is often played in serious summer heat.
- French Open (Roland-Garros): played in Paris from late May into June, on red clay. Clay is the slowest surface. The ball bounces high and rallies run long, which rewards patience, fitness and heavy topspin.
- Wimbledon: played in London from late June into July, on grass. Grass is the fastest surface. The ball stays low and skids, which rewards big serves and short points. Players have to dress almost entirely in white.
- US Open: played in New York from late August into September, on hard courts. It is the last major of the year.
Because the surfaces play so differently, some players do far better on one than another. That is why results on clay in the spring, or on grass in June, can look so different from the hard-court rankings.
The terminology can be confusing. Any of the four events can be called "a Grand Slam." Winning all four in a single calendar year is "the Grand Slam," which is very rare: in the main men's and women's singles events, the last players to do it were Rod Laver in 1969 and Steffi Graf in 1988. Winning all four at some point in a career is a "career Grand Slam."
How a match is scored, and why best of five matters
A game is won by reaching four points (called 15, 30, 40 and game) with a two-point margin. A set goes to the first player to win six games by two, with a tiebreak, first to seven points by two, at 6-6. In the deciding set at the majors, the tiebreak at 6-6 is first to 10 points instead.
At the four majors, men's singles matches are best of five sets, so the winner needs three. Women's singles matches are best of three, so the winner needs two. Almost every other professional event, for men and women, uses best of three.
Best of five changes the shape of a match. It can run past four hours, players can come back from two sets down, and fitness over the two weeks becomes part of the contest. It also gives a stronger player more time to recover from a slow start.
How ATP and WTA rankings work
The ATP runs the men's tour and its rankings, and the WTA runs the women's. Both work the same way in broad terms.
- Rolling 52 weeks. Points earned at a tournament count for one year, then drop off when that tournament comes around again. Rankings are updated weekly.
- Best 18 results. A player's ranking is the total of their best 18 results in that window. The ATP moved back to 18 from 19 at the start of 2026, and the WTA has counted 18 since 2024. Some results have to be counted even if they are poor: on the ATP side, the four majors and the eight mandatory Masters 1000 events for players who are entered in them, and on the WTA side, the four majors and its mandatory 1000-level events.
- The season finale is a bonus. The ATP Finals and WTA Finals, each for the top eight singles players of the year, can be counted on top of the 18.
The broad points scale for winning a singles title looks like this on both tours:
| Tournament level | Points for the winner |
|---|---|
| Grand Slam | 2,000 |
| Masters 1000 (ATP) or WTA 1000 | 1,000 |
| ATP 500 or WTA 500 | 500 |
| ATP 250 or WTA 250 | 250 |
Runners-up and earlier rounds get smaller amounts. At a major, the losing finalist gets 1,300 points.
The rolling window is why you hear about "defending points." If a player won a 1,000-point event last year and loses early this year, those 1,000 points come off their total, and their ranking can fall even in a week they played well elsewhere.
Both tours also run a separate year-to-date standings table, usually called the Race, which decides who qualifies for the season finale. It starts at zero every January, so it often looks different from the official 52-week ranking early in the year.
Why the rankings matter
Rankings decide seedings at the majors, entry into the biggest tournaments and who has to play qualifying. A player returning from a long injury can use a protected ranking to enter events while they rebuild their points. For fans, the ranking table is the quickest way to see who has been consistent across a full year, while the majors show who can win the biggest events.
Frequently asked questions
Why do men play best of five sets at the Grand Slams but women play best of three?
It is a long-standing tradition at the majors. Outside the four Grand Slams, both men and women play best of three at almost every professional event.
How many ranking points is a Grand Slam title worth?
A Grand Slam singles title is worth 2,000 points on both the ATP and WTA tours, and the losing finalist gets 1,300.
What does "defending points" mean?
Points stay on a player's ranking for 52 weeks. When a tournament comes around again, last year's points from it drop off, so a player has to do as well again to keep them.
Which Grand Slam is played on clay?
The French Open, at Roland-Garros in Paris. The Australian Open and US Open are on hard courts and Wimbledon is on grass.
Tennis has a tournament almost every week, which makes it hard to tell what matters. Get Your Sports Here can send a short daily email on the players or tours you pick, or cover the majors as part of the general rundown across all of sport, with each fact linked to its source. You can start a briefing here, and if you like the four-majors structure, golf works in a similar way.