When you follow men’s tennis at the highest level, it is the ATP Tour you are watching. This is where the world’s best players compete – week after week, across the globe.
But the ATP is not just a series of tournaments. It is a system that governs how professional men’s tennis operates in practice.
Tennis has been played in Båstad since the 1940s, long before today’s global tour structure existed. At that time, the sport was organized around national federations and international championships, rather than a unified worldwide system.
For many years, the tournament in Båstad was part of the international Grand Prix circuit – a predecessor to today’s ATP Tour – where players collected points and competed globally, but without the clear structure that exists today.
It was only when players began organizing themselves that the foundation of the modern system was created.
ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) was founded in 1972 by players who wanted greater control over their sport. At the time, players had limited influence over prize money, scheduling, and playing conditions.
The organization began as a players’ association – but quickly evolved into a central force in shaping the professional game.
The defining moment came in 1990, when ATP took over the running of the men’s tour and launched the ATP Tour in its modern form.
What makes ATP unique is that it is not governed from the top down. It is a member-driven organization, meaning both players and tournaments are part of the decision-making process.
This creates a system where:
ATP is not a traditional company with a single owner. Instead, it operates as a partnership between two key stakeholders:
Decisions are made by a board where both sides are represented, creating a balance between sporting and commercial interests.
The day-to-day operations are led by a CEO, while major decisions are taken within this shared governance structure.
In practice, ATP functions as:
ATP is not funded by a single investor, but through a global network of revenue streams.
These include:
This creates a shared ecosystem where value is generated collectively by players, tournaments, and audiences.
ATP defines the framework for professional men’s tennis.
This includes:
This means that a tournament does not decide which players participate – everything is determined by ranking and regulations.
The players who compete in an ATP tournament are determined through an entry list.
This is based on:
The tournament only has limited influence through a small number of wild cards – the rest is fully system-driven.
The ATP Tour is built in multiple tiers that define the hierarchy of the sport:
The higher the level, the more ranking points are available and the greater the impact of each match.
Below the ATP Tour sits the ATP Challenger Tour, which acts as the bridge between emerging players and the elite level.
Here, players earn ranking points to:
The Challenger Tour is therefore a crucial part of the system – not a separate one.
The ATP Tour is built on a simple but powerful principle: performance determines opportunity.
This means:
The system is global, but consistent – regardless of where in the world you compete.
Nordea Open is an ATP 250 tournament, meaning it is part of the official ATP Tour and follows its full regulatory structure.
The tournament in Båstad has evolved from a national event into an established part of the international tour, and is today considered one of the classic clay-court stops in Europe.
The player field is not selected by the organizers, but determined by the entry list based on world rankings – complemented by a limited number of wild cards.
For players, the tournament is a strategic part of the season, where ranking points, surface, and timing all play a role. For fans, it means that the players competing have earned their place through performance – within a system that extends far beyond Sweden.
In the next part, we take a closer look at the WTA Tour – and how the structure of professional women’s tennis compares, including both similarities and key differences.
