Guide
How the ATP Tour works: tiers, points, rankings and the Finals
What is the ATP Tour? The tournament tiers from Masters 1000 to Challengers, how ATP rankings and the Race to Turin work, and where the Davis Cup fits in.
Founder of FifthSet
Nicolai Schmid
About Nicolai
Nicolai Schmid is the founder of FifthSet. He played tennis as a child and returned to the court in summer 2026. With two brothers who are tennis coaches and a grandfather who founded a tennis club, the sport has always been part of his family. FifthSet grew from his curiosity about the matches, players, and stories that make tennis worth following throughout the year.
His role at FifthSet
Nicolai signs off on every published story and its accompanying assets. He is responsible for the final wording, the sources presented to readers, and any corrections that follow publication.
Contact
To suggest a correction or ask about a published story, email kontakt@fifthset.app.
- Contact and corrections
- kontakt@fifthset.app
- Editorial policy
- Editorial policy
Articles by Nicolai Schmid
Guide
How tennis scoring works: points, games, sets and tiebreaks
How does tennis scoring work? Love, 15, 30, 40, deuce and advantage, then games, sets and tiebreaks, how many sets a match has and how long it takes.
Guide
Australian Open prize money 2026: what every round pays
Australian Open prize money 2026: a record A$111.5 million pool, A$4.15 million for each singles champion. Every round, qualifying and doubles.
Guide
ATP Finals prize money: what an undefeated champion earns
ATP Finals prize money: $15.5 million in total, $5,071,000 for an undefeated champion in 2025. How the fee, match bonuses and 1,500 points add up.
News
Zverev reaches the US Open quarterfinals, the only man in the last eight at all four majors this year
The top seed beat Luciano Darderi 6-2, 6-2, 7-6 (3) on Monday and, for the first time this tournament, finished before midnight. Next is Botic van de Zandschulp, who saved a match point in a five-hour win and has beaten Alcaraz in New York before.
Archive photo · Rick Munroe / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0 · unmodified original upload
Opinion
The US Open night session is broken. Fixing it is not complicated.
A top seed joked about going to a bar because he had finished before midnight. Five of the first seven night sessions on Arthur Ashe Stadium ended after 1 a.m. The tournament has known the fix for years and keeps choosing discretion over a rule.
News
Alcaraz reaches US Open quarterfinals in his first tournament since April
The defending champion beat Tommy Paul 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 on Sunday night. He had not played a singles match since a wrist injury in Barcelona in April. Ben Shelton is next, on Tuesday.
Analysis
After 24 years, a top 10 without Federer, Nadal or Djokovic
Novak Djokovic's first-round loss to Mariano Navone ends more than his US Open. When the rankings update on 14 September, a streak that began in October 2002 ends with it.
