Considered to be one of the most prestigious series of events on the men’s professional tennis circuit, the ATP Masters 1000 tournaments have carved out a special place in the calendar.
Throughout the 2026 season, there are nine Masters 1000 tournaments spread across three continents — North America, Europe, and Asia. Rotating between hard and clay courts, these coveted events are often earmarked by the top players, so it’s worth doing well in them.
This guide will give you a full overview of the Masters 1000 framework, explaining the breakdown of ranking points, surfaces, and how they compare to Grand Slams and other ATP categories.
What Are ATP Masters 1000 Tournaments?
First introduced in 1990, the ATP Masters 1000 series has undergone significant cosmetic changes over the past few decades, including name and branding revamps.
Perched just below the Grand Slams in the pecking order, Masters 1000 tournaments have a few distinguishing features:
- The singles champion receives 1,000 ranking points.
- These events have been shaped by legendary moments from the game’s elite.
- Overall prize pools per Masters tournament can be hefty.
- Masters 1000 is a category on the ATP Tour, alongside ATP 500 and ATP 250 tournaments. Grand Slams are organised separately, while the ATP Finals uses a different qualification, competition and points format.
- Masters tournaments contain strong top-end fields, featuring a mix of elite players.
What Are the Nine ATP Masters 1000 Tournaments?
The 2026 calendar contains nine Masters events which garner plenty of interest. We have created a table illustrating location and surface, before sharing a few brief details on the individual tournaments.
| Tournament | Location | Surface |
| Indian Wells | Indian Wells, USA | Hard |
| Miami Open | Miami, USA | Hard |
| Monte-Carlo Masters | Monte-Carlo, Monaco | Clay |
| Madrid Open | Madrid, Spain | Clay |
| Italian Open | Rome, Italy | Clay |
| Canadian Open | Montreal in 2026 | Hard |
| Cincinnati Open | Cincinnati, USA | Hard |
| Shanghai Masters | Shanghai, China | Hard |
| Paris Masters | Paris, France | Hard |
Indian Wells and Miami Open
Comprising the first Masters event of the season, Indian Wells, which takes place in the Californian desert, is viewed as the unofficial fifth Grand Slam.
The second part of the ‘Sunshine Double’ is the Miami Open, which is staged at the Hard Rock Stadium. Both are outdoor hard court tournaments, and completing the ‘Sunshine Double’ is a celebrated feat.
Monte-Carlo, Madrid and Rome
This trio of events denotes the clay court swing, with all roads leading to the second Grand Slam of the campaign, the French Open at Roland Garros.
The Madrid Open previously made headlines when it incorporated a blue surface for the 2012 edition, but the following season, it returned to a traditional red clay.
Canada and Cincinnati
One of the oldest active tournaments in the world, the Canadian Open is a hard-court event switching between Montreal and Toronto, serving as preparation for the US Open.
The Cincinnati Open marks another tune-up event of the US Open, and it is traditionally held at the Lindner Family Tennis Centre in Ohio, 22 miles outside of Cincinnati.
Shanghai and Paris
Shanghai, which was inducted into the Masters series in 2009, is the only Masters event to be held outside of Europe and North America.
Meanwhile, Paris, which is also played on hard, rounds up the ATP Masters 1000 list. Interestingly, it boasts a unique trophy, which is a metal sculpture shaped as a tree.
How Does an ATP Masters 1000 Tournament Work?
Not all Masters 1000 tournaments are the same. They differ in terms of draw sizes and format lengths, something we’ve inferred in this section of the guide.
Draw Sizes
Draw sizes vary by event. The ATP’s 2026 rules provide for 96-player Masters draws, 56-player outdoor Masters draws and 48-player indoor Masters draws. Most Masters 1000 series events now use expanded 96-player singles draws as dictated by the ATP handbook. For larger draws, 76 players earn direct entry by virtue of their ATP ranking, and cut-offs for rankings are normally determined six weeks prior to the tournament.
The top 32 players in the bigger draws receive an opening round bye, and they automatically move into the second round.
The 2026 Monte-Carlo Masters, for example, used a smaller 56-player singles draw. This tournament featured seven of the world’s top 10 players, and the top eight players gained byes into the second round.
Tournament Length
Of the nine ATP Masters 1000 tournaments, seven of these have moved to an expanded 12-day format.
While an elongated version has spread out the rounds a bit more, criticism has been levelled by some players who already have a gruelling campaign.
Monte-Carlo and Paris remain shorter events. Paris is the final Masters 1000 tournament of the season, although another ATP Tour event is scheduled before the ATP Finals.
Match Format
The Masters 1000 series tournaments mirror the ATP 500 and 250 events where matches are contested as shorter, best-of-three sets.
Standard tie-break rules apply, and the competition is knockout-based. A singles player is eliminated after losing a match.
How Many Ranking Points Do Players Earn at Masters 1000 Events?
Masters events can have a big bearing on the ATP rankings system, and players can either climb up or topple down the ladder depending on the results they gain in some of the sport’s biggest tournaments.
There is plenty of pressure heaped on a reigning champion, who will be defending points accumulated from a previous Masters triumph. The winner will receive 1,000 points, while the finalist will pick up 650 points for their efforts.
Masters 1000 ranking points differ from Grand Slam, ATP 500s and ATP 250s. Our handy table reflects the gap in points allocations between all tournaments held throughout the season.
| Tournament | Ranking points for champion |
| Grand Slam | 2,000 |
| ATP Masters 1000 | 1,000 |
| ATP 500 | 500 |
| ATP 250 | 250 |
Masters 1000 vs Grand Slams
While Masters 1000 tournaments often bring elite fields to any given event, they should not be confused with Grand Slams, which are the game’s majors.
Rather, a few key differences separate these prominent tournament categories, as highlighted below:
- Grand Slams offer 2,000 points to the champion, while Masters tournaments grant 1,000 points to the winner.
- There are nine Masters events throughout the season, whereas the Grand Slams have four.
- Grand Slams are held on grass, clay, and hard, but there are no grass-court Masters events.
- Grand Slams have larger 128-player fields, comprising 104 direct entrants into the field, 16 qualifiers and eight wildcards.
- In contrast, ATP Masters 1000 tournaments are smaller in terms of player size, featuring 48, 56 or 96 players, depending on the tournament.
- Seven of the nine Masters 1000 tournaments use the expanded 12-day format in 2026, while Monte-Carlo and Paris remain shorter events.
- Grand Slams have a longer format (best-of-five sets) implemented, while Masters are shorter, limited to best-of-three sets.
- The four Grand Slams are as follows:
- Australian Open (Melbourne and usually held in January)
- French Open (Roland Garros, Paris, and staged in May)
- Wimbledon (All England Lawn Tennis Club, and gets underway at the end of June)
- US Open (Final Major of the season held at Flushing Meadows, New York).
Masters 1000 vs ATP 500 vs ATP 250
Underneath the Majors, there is a broader spectrum of ATP Tour events. In this section, we have explored how ATP Masters 1000 events fare against other tournament categories.
ATP Masters 1000 vs ATP 500
- ATP Masters tournaments are more lucrative, offering 1,000 points, eclipsing the 500 for ATP 500 events.
- ATP 500 events tend to have weaker fields compared to Masters 1000 tournaments.
- Prize money offered for ATP Masters 1000 tournaments is often greater than their 500 counterparts.
ATP Masters 1000 vs ATP 250
- ATP 250 events only offer 250 points to the champion.
- They are deemed the lowest tournament category on the main ATP Tour.
- They remain important components for players working their way back to fitness or looking to dial up preparations at certain junctures of the season.
To put things into context, the ATP Tour has a simple hierarchy, with Grand Slams at the top:
Grand Slams → ATP Masters 1000 → ATP 500 → ATP 250
Meanwhile, the season-ending ATP Finals is a standalone event, which is held on an indoor hard court, and it has its own format. Featuring the world’s top eight players, the tournament splits off into two groups.
Using a round-robin format, matches are best-of-three-set affairs, and the top two from each group progress to the semi-finals. A substantial amount of money is handed to the winner, and an undefeated champion picks up 1,500 ATP ranking points.
In some cases, the winner of the ATP Finals can often determine who finishes the year as World No.1.
Which Surfaces Are Used at ATP Masters 1000 Tournaments?
ATP Masters 1000 tournaments are all distinctly unique in character, and we have underlined the key surface aspects:
- Masters 1000 events are played on hard or clay courts.
- There are no grass-court Masters events, and the clay Masters are: Monte-Carlo, Madrid, and Rome.
- There is a greater weighting towards hard, with the remaining six Masters 1000 tournaments contested on this surface.
- Surface changes in the calendar are directly connected to the wider ATP season, with Monte-Carlo, Madrid, and Rome held during the European clay season, with all roads leading to the French Open.
Frequently Asked Questions About ATP Masters 1000
How many ATP Masters 1000 tournaments are there?
The 2026 ATP season features nine Masters 1000 events scattered across three continents – North America, Europe, and Asia.
How many points does a Masters 1000 winner receive?
The singles champion collects 1,000 ATP ranking points for winning an event.
Is there a grass-court Masters 1000?
No. All current Masters 1000 events in the calendar are on hard and clay courts.
Which Masters 1000 tournaments are played on clay?
There are three — Monte-Carlo, Madrid, and Rome.
What is the final Masters 1000 tournament of the season?
In the 2026 calendar, the Paris Masters marks the final Masters 1000 event. It has been scheduled for 2-8 November.
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