User:Hamiltonian/doubles

The ATP Rankings are the Association of Tennis Professionals' (ATP) merit-based method for determining the rankings in men's tennis. In doubles, the top ranked team is the pair who, over the previous 52 weeks, has gathered the most ATP Rankings points. Points are awarded based on how far a team advances in tournaments and the category of those tournaments. The ATP has used a computerised system for determining the rankings since August 1973. An updated rankings list is released at the beginning of each week.

Since the introduction of the ATP rankings the method used to calculate a player's ranking points has changed several times. As of 2011, the rankings are calculated by totalling the points a doubles team wins in their best eighteen tournaments together, subject to certain restrictions. For top players the counting tournaments are the four Grand Slam tournaments, the eight mandatory ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournaments, the team's best four eligible ATP World Tour 500 series tournaments (the non-mandatory ATP Masters 1000 event in Monte Carlo may be substituted for one of these), and their best two results from ATP World Tour 250 series. Lower ranked players who are not eligible for some or all of the top tournaments may include additional ATP 500 and ATP 250 events, and also ATP Challenger Series, and Futures Series tournaments. The ranking points of players who qualify for the year-end ATP World Tour Finals also include any points gained at that tournament, increasing their counting tournament total to nineteen.

Number 1 ranked players
Data is from the ATP. The doubles rankings began on January 6, 1976.
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Year-end number 1
The year-end number 1 ranked player is determined as the player at the head of the ATP rankings following the completion of the final tournament of the calendar year, usually in November or December. For doubles, two rankings are maintained, one for the individual player or players with the most points, and one for the team with the most points at the end of the season. For the individual rankings, John McEnroe, Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan share the record of five year-end number ones. For the team rankings, Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan share the record at six year-end number ones. Todd Woodbridge was also a member of teams finishing at the year-end number one six times, five times with Mark Woodforde and once with Jonas Bjorkman. The only other player to end the year in a number one team with two different partners is Daniel Nestor, who finished as number one with Mark Knowles twice and with Nenad Zimonjic once.


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