| ITF/GSDF Touring Teams |
 | | Ricardas Berankis (LTU) member of the ITF/GSDF Touring Team to North America when he won the 2007 US Open, with ITF/GSDF team coach Frank Zlesak |  | | Florin Mergea (ROM) - 2003 Wimbledon Boys Singles and Doubles Champion and a member of the ITF Junior A Team to Europe |  | | 2004 Junior A Team to Europe |  | | Junior A Team Coaches 2004 |  | | Gustavo Kuerten (BRA) and Nicolas Lapentti (ECU), members of the 1993 South American Team in Europe |
Each year, based on performances at regional junior circuits, talented players from less developed tennis nations are selected to join ITF/GSDF touring teams to play higher-level events outside their region, with the ITF coach and expenses during the tour financed by the ITF/GSDF Programme. The ITF Touring team programme is probably the ITF’s most well known development initiative and its success can be measured by the fact that between 1999 and 2005 at least one junior Grand Slam title has been won by a member of an ITF Touring team every year. Former Junior Grand Slam champions include Finland’s Jarkko Nieminen (US Open 1999), Indonesia’s Angelique Widjaja (Wimbledon 2001 and Roland Garros 2002), Romanian Florin Mergea (Wimbledon 2003), Ukraine’s Kateryna Bondarenko (Wimbledon 2004), and Bahamian Ryan Sweeting (US Open 2005).
The ITF organises international teams as well as regional teams from Africa, Asia, Caribbean / Central America, Pacific Oceania, Eastern Europe and South America. Criteria for the selection of players to teams include the player’s results in international events and the age of the player (preference is given to younger players). The work rate, attitude and discipline record of the player is also taken into account and the ITF Development Officers and Directors of Regional Training Centres have input prior to the final selection of players.
The ITF and GSDF touring team programme is an integral part of the development programme and aims to facilitate the transition of talented players through regional and international junior competitions and where possible on to the professional ranks. A good example is that of Florin Mergea from Romania. As a member of the ITF 18 & Under International Team under the guidance of ITF Coach Ivan Molina, Mergea spent 4 weeks in 2002 touring North America and a further 8 weeks in 2003 touring Europe. In his final week of the European tour, he won both singles and doubles junior titles at Wimbledon. The last person to win both titles was newly crowned 2003 mens' champion Roger Federer, who took home both junior titles in 1998. Shortly after winning his first junior Grand Slam event, Mergea (along with his junior doubles partner, Horia Tecau) helped secure Romania’s rise to the World Group of the Davis Cup (for only the 3rd time since 1984) with a memorable victory over the Lapentti brothers of Ecuador winning 13-11 in the fifth set. For Mergea that often difficult transition from junior to professional had started off well.
In 2007, there were 20 ITF touring teams involving 183 players from 75 different countries.
The flagship teams are undoubtedly the ITF 18 & Under Teams, which play a series of Grade 1 and Grade A events including junior Roland Garros and junior Wimbledon and another team to North America which plays the junior Canadian and US Opens. In 2007, the teams have been particularly successful. Uladzimir Ignatik of Belarus captured the boys’ singles title at Roland Garros and the Artois Championships, while fellow team member Ricardas Berankis of Lithuania reached the semi-finals at junior Wimbledon and then went on to win both the US Open and Canadian Open junior singles titles.
Former ITF Touring Team members include: Gustavo Kuerten (Brazil), Nicolas Massu (Chile), Nicolas Lapentti (Ecuador), Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi (India), Angelique Widjaja (Indonesia), Eleni Daniilidou (Greece), Younes El Aynaoui (Morocco), Paradorn Srichaphan (Thailand), Cara Black (Zimbabwe), Jarkko Nieminen (Finland), Florin Mergea (Romania) and Marcos Baghdatis (Cyprus).
Please refer to the PDF documents below for the full list of players who participated in ITF touring teams between 2004 and 2007.
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