ATP Finals appearances
This list shows the appearances of all participants in the men's tennis ATP Finals singles since their inception as the Pepsi-Cola Masters in 1970. The tournament is currently held in Pala Alpitour in Turin, Italy.
Qualification
The criteria to qualify for the ATP Finals are as follows:
- Players who finish the season ranked in the top 7 in the ATP race automatically qualify.
- The eighth spot is reserved for a player who won a Grand Slam event in the season and is ranked from 8th–20th. Ivanisevic in 2001, Costa in 2002, Gaudio in 2004, and Cilic in 2014 all qualified for their Grand Slam title despite not ending in the top 8 in the ATP race.
- If more than one player won a Grand Slam event in the season and is ranked from 8th–20th, then whichever of these players is highest-ranked is awarded the eighth spot; whichever of these players is second highest-ranked is made first alternate.
- If there is no player who won a Grand Slam event in the season and is ranked from 8th–20th, then the eight spot is awarded to the player ranked eighth, irrespective of Grand Slam results.
Two alternates also attend the ATP Finals. If the first alternate has already been selected according to (3) mentioned above, then the second alternate is the highest-ranked player who has not otherwise qualified for the event. If both alternate spots are available, they are awarded to the two highest-ranked players who did not otherwise qualify for the event.
An alternate can replace a player who withdraws before the round-robin stage is over, so long as the player who withdraws still has at least one round-robin match left to play. When an alternate enters the competition, his results are considered separately, i.e. the alternate does not inherit the results of the player he is replacing. If an alternate's round-robin results qualify him for the semifinals, then he may continue into the single-elimination rounds.
Format
Unlike other events on the ATP Tour, the ATP Finals is not a straightforward single-elimination tournament. The eight players are divided into two groups of four and each play three round-robin matches against the other players in their group. After the round-robin stage, the top two players in each group advance to the semifinals. The two winners of the semifinals play a final to determine the champion. In this format, it is theoretically possible to advance to the semifinals even with as many as two round-robin losses, but no player in the history of the singles tournament has won the title after losing more than one round-robin match.
To create the groups, the eight players are seeded according to rank. The #1 and #2 seeds are placed in Group A and Group B, respectively. The remaining seeds are drawn in pairs (#3 and #4, #5 and #6, #7 and #8); the first of the pair to be drawn goes to Group A and the other to Group B, and so on.
The format described above has been in place for all editions of the tournament except the following years:
- 1970–71: All round robin (no groups), no semifinals or finals, the winner was decided based on round-robin standings.
- 1982–84: 12-player three-round single-elimination tournament (no round robin), the top four seeds received byes in the first round.
- 1985: 16-player four-round single-elimination tournament (no round robin), no byes.
ATP Finals appearances
- Key
Current format
- W = winner;
- F = runner-up;
- SF = lost in semi-finals (1972–present);
- RR = lost in Round Robin group stage (1972–1981, 1986–present);
- A+ = Alternate (played from the beginning = qualified player withdrew before the tournament);
- A- = Alternate (did not play from the beginning; 1996–present);
- R = withdrew during the tournament (1996–present).
Older format
- QF = lost in quarter-finals (1982–1985);
- R16 = lost in 1st round/Round of 16 (1982–1985);
- 3rd–7th = standings in the RR group (1970–1971);
- Note
When there are more than eight players listed for any year since 1986, it is usually due to withdrawal by one or more players because of injury. When a player withdraws early in the tournament, his place is filled by the next-highest qualifier. Participants are listed in order of number of appearances and best result with players being active indicated in bold.