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December 19, 2021,
Sometimes female tennis player’s schedules temporarily come to a halt.
Recently the team at upi.com reported some stunning news, “Karolina Pliskova will not compete at the 2022 Australian Open, the No. 4 player in the Women’s Tennis Association rankings announced Thursday on social media. Pliskova was set to extend her streak of 35-consecutive main draw appearances at Grand Slam tournaments. That streak dates back to the 2013 Australian Open.”
A true Road Warrior, the tennis world is used to being entertained by Karolina at the Grand Slams.
Not in Australia in 2022.
Why? Her right arm is in a cast. Knowing the grit and determination of Karolina, she probably would play with one arm if she could.
Another temporary casualty was posted on December 13, 2021 by yardbarker.com who stated, “Emma Raducanu, the new face of women’s tennis who shocked the sports world by winning the 2021 U.S. Open this summer, won’t be participating in this week’s Mubadala World Tennis Championship, as planned.
Per Sky Sports, Raducanu tested positive for COVID-19 after traveling to the United Arab Emirates for the exhibition event that is set to feature fellow big names Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray, among others.”
Life happens while you are busy making other plans.
There is a group that continues to plan and make tennis life continue to happen, year round, sometimes flying under the radar, and that is the International Tennis Federation (ITF).
The International Tennis Federation is the governing body of world tennis, wheelchair tennis, and beach tennis. It was founded in 1913 as the International Lawn Tennis Federation by twelve national tennis associations.
As of 2016, there are 211 national and six regional associations that make up ITF’s membership.
The ITF’s governance responsibilities include maintaining and enforcing the rules of tennis, regulating international team competitions, promoting the game, and preserving the sport’s integrity via anti-doping and anti-corruption programs.
The ITF partners with the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) and the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) to govern professional tennis.
The ITF organizes the Grand Slam events, annual team competitions for men (Davis Cup), women (Billie Jean King Cup), and mixed teams (Hopman Cup), as well as tennis and wheelchair tennis events at the Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games on behalf of the International Olympic Committee. The ITF sanctions the Grand Slam tennis tournaments as well as circuits which span age ranges (junior, professional men and women, and seniors) as well as disciplines (wheelchair tennis; beach tennis). In addition to these circuits, the ITF also maintains rankings for juniors, seniors, wheel chair and beach tennis.
That our friends, is a lot of planning, while life continues to happen and some tennis players need a break.
We appreciate their passion in fine tuning the schedule and pathways for female professional tennis players to have a productive year.
At itftennis.com they share, “The ITF Women’s World Tennis Tour provides entry-level and mid-level professional tournaments and provides a professional pathway between the ITF Junior World Tennis Tour and the WTA Tour. The results of ITF tournaments are incorporated into the WTA Ranking, which enables professionals to progress through to the elite levels of women’s professional tennis.
The ITF Women’s World Tennis Tour offers approximately 500 tournaments across 65 countries and incorporates five prize money levels of tournaments: $15,000, $25,000, $60,000, $80,000 and $100,000
Tournaments at $15,000 level include reserved main draw places for Top-100 ranked ITF Juniors, providing a smooth pathway for the best new talent to break through into elite professional tennis. The ITF Women’s World Tennis Tour is also designed to target prize money effectively to help reduce costs for players and ultimately enable more players to make a living.”
It is absolutely wonderful when you can make a living at something you love.
It is even better when a formidable and passionate group help you in that endeavor.
2021 was a great year for women’s tennis. The US Open in particular, with two brand new finalists, captured the excitement of tennis fans around the world.
Guess what?
2022 promises to be even better. Here is
ITF World Tennis Tour Set To Offer Over 1000 Events in 2022
– 204 ITF World Tennis Tour tournaments to be hosted in the first quarter of 2022
– The ITF World Tennis Tour provides equal playing opportunities for women and men
– Q1 2022 calendar represents a 50% increase compared to the same period in 2021
– 2022 offers more playing opportunities compared with pre-pandemic levels
News provided by
International Tennis Federation
Nov 17, 2021, 07:48 ET
LONDON, Nov. 17, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — The International Tennis Federation (“ITF”) today published the ITF World Tennis Tour (“World Tennis Tour”) calendar for the first quarter (“Q1”) 2022 and is set to provide over 1000 events over the course of next year. The first quarter calendar in 2022 will offer 204 tournaments, 102 events for both the men and the women’s tour, representing a 50% increase against Q1 2021 and a 7% increase on Q1 2019 – despite restrictions affecting many ITF-hosting countries.
Jackie Nesbitt, Senior Executive Director, Tours and Player Pathway said, “The ITF World Tennis Tour typically provides over 1000 tournaments globally each year, and we are on track to deliver over and above this volume in 2022. The response and commitment of our national associations and tournament organisers speak to the robustness of the World Tennis Tour with tournaments set to take place in 80 countries, providing more than 65,000 playing opportunities, and over 80,000 matches for fans to enjoy over the course of next year’s tennis season.”
In 2021, 763 ITF World Tennis Tour tournaments will have been held despite the continued challenges due to COVID-19. The ability to host tournaments has been significantly affected by the global health situation, economic impact, international travel constraints, and the need to ensure a safe environment for all involved with strict health, safety, and integrity measures in place at all events. Although disruptions continue due to the pandemic, the number of tournaments taking place at the end of this year are at 90% capacity compared to the same period in 2019, as the World Tennis Tour begins to return to pre-COVID levels.
ITF president and IOC member, Dave Haggerty commented, “Nations are excited about the return to tennis and in a number of cases planning more activity than prior to the pandemic. While we must remain cautious, we can begin to plan further ahead. National Associations worked hard in 2021 to deliver strong calendars for both junior and emerging professional players, despite huge challenges.”
“The World Tennis Tour and Juniors form the main artery of the talent pathway and future of our sport. We always strive to continually improve the system, for example, we are working with nations to increase the number of $60,000-$100,000 tournaments for women both in Q1 and across the year. World Tennis Tour plays a vital role for talented athletes who have the ambition, ability, and determination to make it to the top of the game, no matter which country they are from.”
The ITF World Tennis Tour offered $24.3million in prize money in 2019. The number of $25,000 tournaments have increased from 52 in 2019 to 70 in 2021 (44 for women and 26 for men).
SOURCE International Tennis Federation
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