A tennis tournament is played as a knockout: the loser goes out, the winner moves on to the next round. But not all players reach the draw in the same way, or in the same condition.
A draw of 16 fictitious players. The seeds (the number on the right) are placed so that they do not meet too early: no. 1 at the top, no. 2 at the very bottom, so they can only meet in the final. Click “Next round” to play the draw.
Fictitious players and results. The main Grand Slam draws have 128 players, i.e. 7 rounds.
The player is ranked high enough. This is the case for most of the draw.
He has won a mini-tournament just beforehand, often 2 or 3 matches in a few days.
The organiser gives him a place, often a young player or a home player, whatever his ranking.
Beaten in the last qualifying round, he gets a place when a player in the draw withdraws. He often finds out at the last minute.
The seeds are the highest-ranked players in the draw. They are spread out so that they do not meet before the final rounds. On the ATP Tour, a protected ranking does not allow a player to be seeded (lesson 1.2).
Before the tournament, the organiser makes the draw in public. The seeds are placed first, in positions set by the rules. The other players are drawn at random into the remaining positions. Click “Make the draw”: the seeds (outlined) stay put, everything else changes.
Seeds 3 and 4 are drawn between themselves to decide which goes in the top half and which in the bottom half, as are seeds 5 to 8.
Some draws are not “full”: 28, 48, 56 or 96 players. The top seeds are then exempt from the first round (this is called a “bye”). They go straight into the second round, against a player who has already won a match at the venue.
| Draw | Examples | Seeds with a bye |
|---|---|---|
| 28 players | Many ATP 250 events | The top 4 |
| 48 players | Some ATP 500 and 250 events | The top 16 |
| 56 players | Several Masters 1000 and WTA 1000 events | The top 8 |
| 96 players | The biggest Masters 1000 and WTA 1000 events (Indian Wells, Miami…) | The top 32 |
| 128 players | Grand Slam | None: everyone plays the first round |
For a match, this means that in the second round a seed plays their first match of the tournament, while their opponent has already found their bearings on court. On a Proofset card, the number of matches each has already played can be read in the two players' history.
A standard tournament fits into one week: qualifying at the weekend, then one round a day up to the Sunday final. A Grand Slam lasts two weeks: one rest day between two matches. Click to watch the week fill up.
Typical week of a 28-player ATP 250, as an example. The exact days vary with the tournament, the rain and the order of play. At a Grand Slam, the men's final is played on Sunday, the day after the women's final.
Key point: a qualifier who reaches the final of a one-week tournament has played up to 7 matches in 9 days. A player with a first-round bye can win the tournament in 4 matches. The two do not reach the final with the same legs.
A qualifier arrives with matches already played at the venue, sometimes the day before. A player coming off a long three-set match sometimes plays again the next day. Proofset flags this with the Load tag: 50 games or more in 72 hours, or a match of 32 games or more in the last 2,5 days.
win rate
win rate
win rate
Proofset database, 8 431 matches from 01/06 to 13/10/2026, all tours. Favourite determined by ELO before the match.
Reading: a favourite under load has a win rate about 5 points lower than a rested favourite. That is why Proofset flags these two states next to the probability.
8 questions. You need 7 correct answers to pass the lesson.
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