Men's Tennis

"What is a ATP Masters Series?", would you ask. It is a series of nine tennis tournament events that are part of the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) tour, held annually throughout the year in Europe and North America. The tournaments are mandatory for the international top male players on the world's professional tennis circuit. The series constitutes the most prestigious tournaments in men's tennis after the four Grand Slam events.

The series were presented in 1990 with the inception of the ATP Tour. Initially, the events were known as "Championship Series, Single Week" events. In 1996 and until 1999, the series were known as the Mercedes-Benz Super 9. In 2000, the name was changed to the Tennis Masters Series (TMS) and then changed to the present name in 2004.

Results in ATP Masters Series events earn players more world ranking points than regular tournaments, though not as many as Grand Slam events or the year-end Tennis Masters Cup. Up until 2007, most Master Series finals were contested as best of five set matches. At present, all Masters Series events are decided in best of three set matches. For information, Former World No. 1 Andre Agassi holds the record for the most titles with 17.

On August 31, 2007 the ATP declared that major changes will take place in 2009. The Masters Series will be renamed to the “Masters 1000,” with the addition of the number 1000 referring to the amount of ranking points which are won. Contrary to earlier plans, the number of tournaments will not be reduced from nine to eight and the Monte Carlo Masters will remain part of the series although, unlike the other events, it will not have a mandatory player commitment. The Hamburg Masters event will be downgraded and replaced by a new tournament in Shanghai. In 2011 six of the nine “1000” level tournaments will be joint ATP and WTA events.