ATP 250

An ATP 250 is a tournament in the lowest of the three ATP Tour categories, below the ATP 500s and Masters 1000s and above the Challenger Tour. The number is the champion's ranking points. The 2026 calendar has 29 of them, the most numerous category, spread from the Australian summer in January to the indoor season in the autumn.

When you see it

A 250 usually lasts a week with a draw of 28 or 32 players and eight seeds; in a 28 draw the top four seeds skip the first round. Fields are mixed: one or two top-ten players who want matches before a bigger event, players ranked 30 to 100 for whom a 250 is a realistic title, local wild cards and a handful of qualifiers. There is no commitment to play them, which is why a first-time champion is often a name you have not heard. For a player who has entered every Slam and mandatory Masters, a 250 title counts as one of the six "best other" results in the rankings, alongside 500s and Challengers (players who missed some of those twelve events can fill the empty slots with further results), so for a top player it is worth relatively little and for a player outside the top 50 it can be the result of the year.

Rule basis

ATP Official Rulebook, Chapter I, 1.01 (Categories of Tournaments); Chapter VII, 7.15 (Number of Seeds: 28 or 32 competitors, eight seeds) and 7.18 (Byes: top four seeds in a 28 draw); Chapter IX, 9.03 (best six results from 500, 250, Challenger and other events).