An open letter from David Haggerty and Ross Hutchins
To the players and the coaches at every level. To the millions of fans in every corner of the world. To those working tirelessly inside 214 national tennis associations to grow the game at every level. This letter is for you.
To the volunteers, the officials, the stringers and the physios. To the parents and the teachers. To the brand partners, broadcasters and the people behind every tour and tournament. Together, you are the world of tennis.
And the future we will set out here? It’s one we will build together. We exist to bring tennis to you.
To anyone who has not yet picked up a racket and pretended to be a star. Or been gripped by watching a close match on your phone. Or engaged with our sport’s incredible stories, characters and content. Perhaps you won’t read this today.
But we can’t wait to help you unlock the world of opportunities that tennis can offer.
The benefits are open to us all – whatever age, ability, gender or background. In world tennis, there is a place for you – and we want that to be a place to thrive.
Today is a defining moment in our 113-year history as the global governing body of tennis. Yesterday, we were the International Tennis Federation. From today, we are World Tennis.
Our new name represents who we are as an organisation. But it’s about more. It marks a commitment for where we intend to take this game – with your help.
Every tennis journey begins somewhere in a local community. From there it can go global – as a player, as a fan, as a career. Ideally, anywhere you want it to.
Our ambition is to ensure that more of you can access, enjoy and benefit from the proven health and social benefits that tennis, wheelchair tennis and beach tennis provide – for life.
Tennis is already one of the world’s largest sports. But we want to shout from the rooftops to anyone who hasn’t discovered us yet, “Tennis for all!” and most importantly, tennis for you.
If more people play, watch or follow, everyone in the game benefits. That’s the future we’ll be striving for.
We believe it’s possible to increase global participation from 106 million people playing tennis to 140 million by 2035. That’s an increase of more than 30%. We want to be ambitious, but we do think it’s realistic too.
Part of our role at World Tennis is supporting, partnering and helping to fund national tennis associations. They are responsible for tennis in their nations around the world.
In fact, 214 of them and six regional associations means tennis has one of the largest networks in world sport. Even bigger than football. We are proud that World Tennis has an important voice within the Olympic and Paralympic movements.
The growth and success of our sport needs money spent on it – in the right places. Today we can commit to reinvest at least 85% of our income over the next decade to empower our member national tennis associations to benefit communities everywhere.
Our focus will be on long-term sustainable growth. And while we have a role to play in nearly every part of our sport, we have five clear priorities:
1. Growing Participation
- Connect and align one of the largest networks of national associations across world sport to increase the number of recreational players and enable more people of all ages and abilities to enjoy the proven health and social benefits of tennis.
- Expand the Junior Tennis Initiative to introduce millions more children to tennis every year
2. Powering future stars
- Deliver further enhancements to the World Tennis global player pathway - the main global pathway for players to progress from grassroots to the professional game – producing the majority of ATP and WTA Top 200 players
- Build new markets and provide more competitive opportunities all over the world.
- Build world-class training facilities in more countries: support the delivery of 100 National Training Centres by 2035, expanding access to high-performance coaching
3. Elevating official nations competitions
- Strengthen the Davis Cup, Billie Jean King Cup and World Team Cups (and their junior competitions); the pinnacle of national representation and pride, and Olympic and Paralympic pathways
4. Ensuring a sport fit for the future
- Lead the way ensuring tennis appeals to future audiences; innovating, connecting nations digitally, protecting integrity and trust, evolving governance and advancing player wellbeing
5. Investing to grow the game
- Secure new revenue streams and value-driven long-term partnerships, and support reinvestment into tennis via national associations worldwide.
But very little of what we’ve outlined will be achieved in isolation.
Tennis needs a collective approach. From local clubs and national associations. From the ATP, WTA and Grand Slams. From industry partners to the players at the heart of our sport. If we can unite behind a shared purpose to grow and strengthen our game, we all win and tennis wins.
We are here to help facilitate that unity and bring the sport closer together for a brighter future.
You’re reading this because tennis matters. Incredible experiences, rewarding careers, and healthier, happier and longer lives. When tennis thrives, people do.
This is the journey ahead, and it belongs to all of us. Come with us as we enter our new era. Let’s grow the game and make it a home to millions more. Let’s enjoy everything tennis can offer us and continue to grow the game all over the world, in new and existing locations.
The world of tennis is ours to build – together!
David Haggerty & Ross Hutchins
World Tennis President & CEO