How does the professional tennis tour work?

       The ATP tour and its working structure may appear very complicated to those unfamiliar with it.

       The professional tour consists of three different overlapping tiers. The lowest level of professional tennis is where nearly every aspiring professional begins; these tournaments are known as Futures (formerly referred to as "Satellites") tournaments. These tournaments are essential for attaining ATP points that are necessary to move to the next level of play, but the pay at this level is very inadequate. After attaining enough points, one can advance to the next level of the pro tour, which is known as the Challenger level.

       This level is very tough and also much more rewarding in terms of the amount of ATP points one could possibly win as well as in terms of prize money. Players at the Challenger level are on the verge of being full time ATP tour players and are also able to play the qualifying rounds for almost all major tournaments.

       The top level of play is the tournaments that you see on television. The largest tournaments on this tour are the Grand Slams (Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon, and U.S. Open), but there are ATP tour stops all over the world virtually every week of the year.

       Individual rankings are based upon the total amount of ATP points a person earns over the course of a year. The amount of points and prize money a person attains in any given tournament is dependent upon the level of the tournaments and the player performance. This is shown on the next page. A certain number of points do not guarantee entry into any tournament. After all entries are received, the applicants with the most points are placed into the main draw, and those who are just short of direct acceptance are placed into the qualifying rounds. Tournaments occur at the same time all over the world, so some tournaments will be easier to get into than others. For instance, it is likely that more people would rather play a series of Challengers in the U.S. than in Malaysia, so it is possible to be accepted to these tournaments with fewer points. The goal is to try to work one's way through the Futures as fast as possible. The sooner a player has the opportunity to play Challenger and ATP events, the better. Therefore, it is imperative for an aspiring professional to have the means to travel to tournaments all over the world in order to have a realistic chance of succeeding.

       As you will see, the Futures tournaments do not provide enough prize money to support the expenses necessary to play on tour. It generally takes an average of two years to move through the Futures to the Challenger Level. At this point, the prize money improves, and frequent opportunities to qualify for ATP events allow for one good week to provide a great deal of points and large pay days.

Source: http://www.usrsa.com/store/ontour.php