| International Tennis Federation (ITF) |
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|---|---|
| Formation | 1 March 1913 |
| Type | Federation of national associations |
| Headquarters | London, England, UK |
| Membership | 206 national associations |
| Official languages | English |
| President | Francesco Ricci Bitti |
| Website | www.itftennis.com |
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The International Tennis Federation (ITF) is the governing body of world tennis, made up of 205 national tennis associations.
It was established as the International Lawn Tennis Federation (ILTF) by 12 national associations meeting at a conference in Paris, France on 1 March 1913. In 1924 it became the officially recognised organisation with authority to control lawn tennis throughout the world, with official 'ILTF Rules of Tennis'. In 1977 it dropped the word 'lawn' from its title, recognising that most tennis was no longer played on grass.
Originally based in Paris, its funds were moved to London, England during World War II; From that time onwards the ILTF/ITF has been run from London. Until 1987, the ITF was based at Wimbledon, it then moved to Barons Court, near Queens Club, and then moved again in 1998 to the Bank of England Sports Ground, Roehampton.[1]
Its official annual is The ITF Year, describing the activities of the ITF over last 12 months. This replaced World of Tennis.
The ITF operates the three major national team competitions in the sport, the Davis Cup for men, the Fed Cup for women and the Hopman Cup, mixed teams. The ITF sanctions the four Grand Slams: the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open.
While the ATP Tour and WTA Tour control most other high-level professional tournaments, the ITF runs developmental professional tours for men and women. The ITF Men's Circuit, consists of Futures tournaments with prize funds of USD 10,000 or USD 15,000. Medium level men's tournaments are run by the ATP through the ATP Challenger Tour. The ITF previously also ran four-week satellite tournaments of roughly the same quality level as Futures tournaments, but they were discontinued after the 2006 season. The ITF Women's Circuit incorporates both lower and mid-level tournaments, with prize funds ranging from USD 10,000 to USD 100,000. Virtually every ATP and WTA player started by playing on the ITF circuits.
The ITF is responsible for maintaining an international under-18 junior circuit for boys and girls, as well as a wheelchair tennis circuit.
The ITN (International Tennis Number) [2] is an international tennis rating system that gives tennis players a number that represents their general level of play. Players are rated from ITN 1 (ATP or WTA standard or equivalent) to 10 (starter players).
Conversion charts have been developed linking the ITN to other existing rating systems in ITF tennis nations and in time it is hoped that every tennis player worldwide will have a rating.
Below ITN 10 there are 3 further categories linked to the slower balls:
• 10.1 for players using green balls on the full size court
• 10.2 for players using orange balls on the 18 metre court
• 10.3 for players using red balls on the 11 metre court
Once players can ‘Serve, rally and score’ they should have a rating to help them find players to play with of a similar level.
Source ITF Site, ITF site, 2010 year-end ranking
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