ITF (International Tennis Federation) Roles, Chairman and Structure

WHAT IS ITF’S ROLE? 

The ITF is an organization whose main goal is tennis development around the world. It invests millions of dollars to help the 87 million players on the planet, boost the infrastructure level, with an edge on performance, and better form coaches or empires. 

The ITF organizes team international competitions, the Davis Cup for men and the Fed Cup for women. It also helps the International Olympic Committee in the Olympic tournaments’ organization. It is responsible for the four Grand Slam tournaments, organized by national entities (Tennis Australia for the Australian Open, the French Federation for the French Open, the All-England Lawn Tennis Club for Wimbledon, the American Federation for the US Open). The ITF is in charge of six tours by year:

• The Men’s World Tennis Tour, the third-tier division for men’s tennis, behind the ATP Tour and the Challenger Tour. 550 tournaments are held across 70 countries, in two different categories (15 000 dollars and 25 000 dollars). Spots are reserved to Top 100 junior players in the 15 000 tournament draws. Points for the ATP rankings are allocated on this tour. 

• The Women’s World Tennis Tour, the second-tier division for women’s tennis, behind the WTA Tour. 550 tournaments are held across 65 countries, in five different categories (15 000 dollars, 25 000 dollars, 60 000 dollars, 80 000 dollars and 100 000 dollars). Spots are reserved to Top 100 junior players in the 15 000 tournament draws. Points for the WTA rankings are allocated on this tour. 

• The World Tennis Tour Juniors, open to players aged from 13 to 18. 650 tournaments are held across 140 countries, in six different categories (from A, including Grand Slam tournaments, to 5). The eight best players on the season are qualified for the ITF World Tennis Tour Junior Finals in the end of the season. There are also Finals open only to players under 14. The Davis Cup Junior and the Fed Cup Junior are open to players under 16. 

• The Seniors Tour, open to players over 35, divided in three different age classes: young seniors (35 – +45), seniors (50 – +60) et super-seniors (65 – +85). 26 000 players were registered on this tour in 2018. 450 tournaments are held across 70 countries. Tournament categories go from Grade A to Grade 4. 

• The Wheelchair Tennis Tour, open only to disabled players. The tour is sponsored by Uniqlo and played in 150 tournaments across 40 countries. Singles and doubles’ Masters are played at the end of the season. Nearly 3 million dollars are donated in prize money. 

• The Beach Tennis World Tour, 300 tournaments are held across 37 different countries. 

The ITF upholds the rules of tennis and eventual changes made to them. “We are monitoring the state of the game, ensuring that tennis remains true to its traditions in an ever-evolving world, and preserving the sport’s appeal to all”, states the ITF on the official website. 

The ITF runs the antidoping policy across the tennis world, on the behalf of the ATP, the WTA and Grand Slam tournaments. “The purposes of the Tennis AntiDoping Programme are as follows: 

• Maintain the integrity of tennis; 

• Protect the health and rights of all tennis players.” 

Also Read | Brief History of Roland Garros

WHO IS ITF’S CHAIRMAN? 

The ITF has been run by American David Haggerty since 2015. He is now also an International Olympic Committee member. Haggerty was previously the USTA chairman and therefore the US Open chairman. Owner of Price before being president of Dunlop Maxfli Slazenger Sports, Head USA et Penn Racquet Sports, he was re-elected by the ITF Board of Directors for a second four-year term in September 2019. He gathered more than the 50% percent required on the first ballot, with 259 votes on the 428 divided into the 148 Federations which could participate. He was elected by a much smaller margin in 2015, against the Indian Anil Khanna (200 votes against 192 in the second round). Haggerty succeeded Italian Francesco Ricci Biti, who spent 16 years running the ITF. Since 2016, it is impossible for an ITF president to do more than three terms, so there is an implicit 12-year limit. 

Also Read | Slazenger Wimbledon tennis ball review

Structure of ITF 

The ITF numbers 210 national Federations as members, as of 2020. 148 have voting rights for the president and Board of Directors ballots. The number of votes attributed to each Federation depends upon several criteria, as the results in team competitions, ATP/WTA, juniors or wheelchair rankings, or ITF contribution. Five Federations have the 12-vote limit, according to the 2020 list: 

• Australia

• Great Britain 

• France 

• United States 

• Germany 

14 Federations have 9 votes, 7 with 7 votes, 15 with 5 votes, 23 with 3 voix and 84 with one vote. 64 Federations are members without voting rights. 

The ITF members have been divided into continental Federations since 1975. Here is the current repartition: 

• Asian Tennis Federation: 44 members 

• Central American & Caribbean Tennis Confederation: 30 members 

• Confederation of African Tennis: 52 members 

• Oceania Tennis Federation: 20 members 

• South America Tennis Confederation: 10 members

• Tennis Europe: 50 members 

The United States and Canada don’t belong to any continental Federation. 

The ITF has a Board of Directors, with members elected on four-year terms (maximum three by person). He is currently composed as follows: 

• 1 chairman (David Haggerty); 

• 1 treasurer (Rene Stambach); 

• 3 vice-presidents (Katrina Adams, Bernard Guidicelli, Bulat Utemaratov) ; 

• 10 Board members (Carlos Bravo, Martin Corrie, Jack Graham, Nao Kawatei, Anil Khanna, Ulrich Klaus, Salma Mou elhi Guizani, Camilo Pérez Lopez Moreira, Alexey Selivanenko, Stefan Tzvetkov). 

• 2 athlete Board members (Mary Pierce, Mark Woodforde).