How does the RFET ranking work?

The national ranking of the Royal Spanish Tennis Federation (RFET) adds up the points each player wins in official tournaments over the last twelve months. Only your best tournaments count, not all of them: fourteen in general, fewer in the youngest categories. What a result is worth depends on the level of the draw, the round you reach, the type of tournament and the draw's age category. The ranking closes on the last day of every month, and it is a single list for all ages.

Which tournaments count?

Every tournament in the official calendars that the regional federations send to the RFET, once the RFET has approved them. The regional federation uploads the draws to the RFET platform.

From those tournaments, the ranking adds up your best individual results of the last twelve months, plus team competition between clubs or regional teams:

If you play two categories at the same tournament, for example cadete and júnior, they count as two separate tournaments.

How many points is a result worth?

It works out in three steps.

1. The level of the draw, in stars. The eight highest-ranked players in the draw on the day of the first draw are looked at. Each one adds a value based on their ranking (number 1 adds 1,000; numbers 176 to 300 add 75; the third-category groups add 50 down to 5). The total of those eight gives between 1 and 19 stars. If the draw has prize money, it gets another 1 to 11 stars depending on the total prize fund. Each draw's stars are published once the draw is made.

2. Points per round. With the stars set, a table gives the points for how far you get. Some of its rows:

A player who loses their first match gets one point, however many stars the draw has. A player who loses their first match by walkover gets none.

3. The coefficients. Those points are then multiplied:

There are smaller ones too: qualifying draws count 0.25, consolation draws 0.10 and one-day tournaments 0.20.

An example

A cadete player reaches the semi-finals of a 10-star cadete draw at an ordinary tournament. The table gives 70 points. The tournament coefficient (1.25) and the cadete coefficient (0.65) are applied: 70 × 1.25 × 0.65 = 56.9, about 57 points. The same result at the Spanish cadete championship would give 70 × 3.5 × 0.65 = 159.3. That is why Spanish and regional championships weigh so much in a junior's ranking.

When is it updated?

Every month. The close is the last day of the month, and the RFET usually publishes the ranking 15 to 20 days later, with no fixed day. At each close the oldest month drops out and the new one comes in, so the total always covers twelve months: points from a year ago disappear even if you have kept playing.

Is there a ranking for each junior category?

No. The national ranking is one list for all ages. Each player's ranking record also shows their position within their own category.

The list is split into tiers that are also called "categories", although they have nothing to do with age:

The third-category groups differ between the men's and the women's ranking. In the women's ranking, for example, G-10 runs from 301 to 400 and G-5 from 2,501 to 4,000; groups G-3, G-2 and G-1 are players with 3, 2 and 1 points. Anyone with at least one point appears in the ranking.

The junior age groups (alevín, cadete and the rest) are explained on the page about tennis age categories in Spain.

Do international tournaments count?

Yes, converted by a factor. Points from the ITF junior ranking are multiplied by 15. Tennis Europe points by 2 for alevín, 3 for infantil and 4 for cadete. ATP points are multiplied by 150 and WTA points by 300. For the RFET to add them, the player must have sent it their IPIN, the international player identification number, and have a validated licence.

A player moving from Tennis Europe to the ITF junior circuit (at 16 to 17) keeps their converted points from the previous category for six months, based on the last December ranking.

What costs you points?

• An unjustified walkover or a disqualification: minus 30% of the points the winner of that draw receives. The justification has to be recorded on the draw signed by the referee.
• Time: every month the points from the oldest month drop out.

Doubles has its own ranking, but doubles points from tournaments played in Spain also lift the singles ranking a little: they are added multiplied by 0.20.

Common questions

Why has my ranking dropped when I haven't played worse?

Because every month the points from twelve months ago drop out. If the tournament leaving the calculation was a good one and you have not replaced it with a better one, you go down without losing anything new.

Does a cadete win more points by playing an absoluto event?

They can. In an absoluto draw the age coefficient is 1, against 0.65 in a cadete draw, but the level of the draw is usually higher and rounds are harder to win. The rules allow cadetes to enter absoluto draws.

How many tournaments can I play in one week?

In the same week, at most one week-long tournament (Monday to Sunday) and one weekend tournament (Friday to Sunday). You can also play two weekend tournaments as long as they do not both start in the same week. The RFET platform will not accept an entry that creates a double entry.

Do foreign players get a ranking?

Yes, if they hold a Spanish licence, since the January 2026 ranking.

Sources

• RFET, Reglamento de Clasificación 2026 (from January 2026), general principles, articles 1 to 14 and annexes 1 and 2.
• RFET, Ranking Nacional, preguntas frecuentes (FAQ).

Consulted on 4 October 2026.