ATP vs WTA — What Is the Difference?

Quick Answer

The ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) runs the men's tour and the WTA (Women's Tennis Association) runs the women's tour. They are separate organisations with separate rankings, separate calendars and separate year-end championships, founded a year apart in 1972 and 1973. The four Grand Slams belong to neither — they are run by their own national federations under the ITF, which is why both tours play them. The biggest on-court difference is format: men play best-of-five sets at Grand Slams only, while women play best-of-three everywhere. All four Slams now pay men and women equally, a process that started at the US Open in 1973 and finished at Wimbledon in 2007.

Two tours, one sport

Tennis is unusual among global sports in having two entirely separate professional circuits that share the same stages. The ATP organises the men's tour, the WTA the women's, and they were founded within a year of each other in the early 1970s — the ATP in 1972, the WTA in 1973, the latter driven by Billie Jean King and the group of players who became known as the Original Nine.

What they do not organise is the part everyone watches most. The four Grand Slams belong to their host federations, which is why a Slam can change its rules without either tour's agreement, and why the four of them moved at such different speeds on equal prize money.

Side by side

	ATP	WTA
Full name	Association of Tennis Professionals	Women's Tennis Association
Founded	1972	1973
Top tier below Slams	Masters 1000 (9 events)	WTA 1000
Middle tiers	ATP 500, ATP 250	WTA 500, WTA 250
Feeder circuit	ATP Challenger Tour, ITF	WTA 125, ITF World Tour
Year-end final	ATP Finals (top 8)	WTA Finals (top 8)
Team competition	Davis Cup	Billie Jean King Cup
Grand Slam format	Best of 5 sets	Best of 3 sets
Format elsewhere	Best of 3 sets	Best of 3 sets

The five-set question

The most visible difference is also the narrowest. Men play best-of-five sets at the Grand Slams and nowhere else — every ATP tour event, every Masters 1000, the ATP Finals itself, all best-of-three, exactly like the WTA. So for roughly 44 weeks of the year the two tours play an identical format.

That narrowness is what keeps the argument alive. Because best-of-five survives only at four tournaments, it reads less like a structural feature of men's tennis and more like a tradition that happened not to be reformed. Proposals go in both directions, and neither side has won.

Rankings and points

Both tours run a rolling 52-week ranking in which only a fixed number of your best results count, so points earned a year ago fall off and have to be defended. The specifics diverge: the number of counting results, which tournaments are compulsory, and the point values below Slam level are all set separately by each tour.

We keep the full tables on their own pages — ATP points and WTA points — because those numbers are revised more often than anything else in this article.

When the money became equal

Equal prize money at the Slams took thirty-four years to complete, and the order tells its own story.

Grand Slam	Equal prize money from	Note
US Open	1973	First sporting event in the world to pay equally
Australian Open	2001	Second Slam to reach parity
Roland Garros	2006	Followed a decade of public pressure
Wimbledon	2007	Last of the four to equalise

The US Open's 1973 decision came after Billie Jean King told organisers the women would not return without it, and made the tournament the first sporting event anywhere to pay men and women the same. Wimbledon, the last holdout, equalised in 2007. Below Slam level the tours are still working through the remaining gaps.

Davis Cup and Billie Jean King Cup

The national team competitions belong to the ITF rather than to either tour. Davis Cup, first played in 1900, is one of the oldest international team events in any sport. Its women's counterpart started in 1963 as the Federation Cup, was shortened to Fed Cup, and in 2020 became the Billie Jean King Cup — the first major global team competition to be named after a woman.

ATP vs WTA — FAQ

What is the difference between ATP and WTA?

They are the two governing bodies of professional tennis: the ATP runs the men's tour, the WTA the women's. Each publishes its own rankings, sanctions its own tournaments and stages its own year-end championship. They share the four Grand Slams, which are run separately by their host federations, and they increasingly share venues — many of the biggest events now run a combined men's and women's draw in the same fortnight.

Why do men play five sets and women play three?

It is a survival of tradition rather than a current rule of the sport. Men play best-of-five only at the four Grand Slams; everywhere else on the ATP tour they play best-of-three, exactly like the WTA. The debate about whether to align the two formats resurfaces every Slam, with arguments running in both directions — some want women to play five sets at the Slams, some want men to play three.

Do men and women earn the same prize money?

At the Grand Slams, yes. The US Open equalised in 1973, the Australian Open in 2001, Roland Garros in 2006 and Wimbledon in 2007. Below Slam level the picture is more uneven: prize money at individual ATP and WTA events depends on the tier and the tournament, and the tours have committed to closing the remaining gaps at the 1000 level over the coming seasons.

Are the ranking systems the same?

The principle is shared — a rolling 52-week window in which only a set number of your best results count — but the details differ, including how many results count and which events are compulsory. The point values also diverge below Slam level. Our separate breakdowns cover each in full.

Who runs the Grand Slams, ATP or WTA?

Neither. Each Slam is run by its national federation — Tennis Australia, the French Tennis Federation, the All England Club and the USTA — under the umbrella of the ITF, the sport's global governing body. This is why Slam rules can differ from tour rules, and why the four events were able to move at different speeds on questions like equal prize money and deciding-set tiebreaks.

What are Masters 1000 and WTA 1000 events?

The tier immediately below the Grand Slams, and the biggest events either tour runs on its own. The ATP has nine Masters 1000 tournaments; the WTA has its own 1000-level series. Winners earn 1,000 ranking points, hence the name, and most are compulsory for the leading players — a skipped mandatory event counts as a zero result.

What is the difference between Davis Cup and Billie Jean King Cup?

They are the men's and women's national team competitions, both run by the ITF rather than by the tours. Davis Cup dates back to 1900. The women's equivalent began in 1963 as the Federation Cup, became the Fed Cup, and was renamed the Billie Jean King Cup in 2020 — the first major global team competition named after a woman.