The ITF’s Class of 2021 series recognises and celebrates players who have had a successful year progressing along the ITF player pathway, and beyond. The second of five categories being unveiled this week identifies three players who received Grand Slam Development Fund (GSDF) Player Grants earlier in their careers who this year reached the Top 10 of the ATP and WTA Tours

The Grand Slam Development Fund was established in 1986 to encourage and increase competitive opportunities in developing tennis regions. With annual contributions from the four Grand Slam tournaments, the Fund assists players directly, through touring teams or travel grants – now known as Grand Slam Player Grants, first introduced in 2017 – to gain international competitive experience.

To date, the GSDF has contributed more than $50 million to tennis development, helping to increase the number of nations represented in Grand Slam tournaments and other international competitions. This season saw three Grand Slam Player Grant recipients reach a new threshold in their careers, as Ons Jabeur, Hubert Hurkacz and Casper Ruud each ended the year with a Top-10 ranking for the first time.

 

Ons Jabeur

At the age of 22 and ranked No. 193 in the world, Tunisia’s Jabeur was among the first crop of players to receive a $50,000 Grand Slam Player Grant in 2017. That year, she became the first Arab woman to reach the third round of a Grand Slam at Roland Garros, and finished the season inside the Top 100.

Fast-forward four seasons on, and Jabeur’s career continues to hit historic heights: already the first Arab woman to reach the last eight at a Grand Slam tournament at the 2020 Australian Open, she claimed her first WTA title on grass in Birmingham in 2021, along with final appearances in Chicago and Charleston and a quarter-final appearance at Wimbledon.

Jabeur’s run to the semis at Indian Wells in October propelled her into the WTA Top 10 – peaking at No. 7 – the first time an Arab player has achieved a Top-10 ranking on either the ATP or WTA Tours.

"Top 10, I know, is the beginning,” Jabeur told WTA Insider. “I know I deserve this place for a long time since I was playing well. But I want to prove that I deserve to be here, I deserve to be one of the Top 10 players. There are a lot of things that I need to improve.

"I am trying to take these steps. I'm trying so hard to calm myself down and handle all this stress because I want to be a Grand Slam champion. If I want to do that, then I need to go through this… I am finally finding my joy, the goals I've been waiting for for a long time."

 

Hubert Hurkacz

At Wimbledon this year, Hubert Hurkacz became the second Grand Slam Player Grant recipient to reach a Grand Slam semi-final, hot on the heels of Tamara Zidansek’s final-four surge at Roland Garros a month earlier.

The 24-year-old Pole received $25,000 in 2018 with his ranking around the No. 250 mark, without an ITF title to his name and yet to make his Grand Slam debut. Now he is coming off a year that has seen him surge from beyond the ATP Top 30 to No. 9 in the world, represent his nation at the Olympic Games, and claim three titles including biggest crown of his career to date at the Miami Open, culminating with a spot at the elite ATP Finals in Turin.

“I think it was a great season,” Hurkacz said at the ATP Finals. “I learned a lot, which was very big for me. The improvements I have made [gave me] the opportunity to be here and compete here. I am learning about what to work on. It is nice to have a lot of things to improve in my game.”

It is an exciting time for Polish tennis, with Hurkacz joined by compatriot Iga Swiatek as year-end Top-10 players on the ATP and WTA Tours. Only Spain (Rafael Nadal, Garbine Muguruza and Paula Badosa) and Greece (Stefanos Tsitsipas and Maria Sakkari) can also boast such a feat.

“It’s amazing,” Hurkacz told the ATP. “Iga has been playing pretty amazing tennis – she won a Grand Slam, so that’s so special for the whole country and for tennis in our country. Now that we both have qualified this year for the Finals, it’s great. It’s going to grow the sport in Poland and it’s just something really, really amazing.”

 

Casper Ruud

Finishing the year one spot ahead of Hurkacz as the ATP world No. 8, Norway’s Casper Ruud was the youngest player to reach the ATP Finals, where he reached the semi-finals and faced both world No. 1 Novak Djokovic and No. 2 Daniil Medvedev.

“It has been a great year for me and my development as a tennis player,” Ruud told ATPTour.com in Turin. “Every week and every match matters. It was only a couple of matches that made the difference of qualifying for the tournament. I am proud of the year and am looking forward to next year. If I can keep playing well, I can have another year like this year.”

Like Hurkacz, Ruud received a $25,000 Grand Slam Player Grant in 2018 with his potential clear but yet to make an appearance in a Grand Slam tournament main draw. This year he opened the season with his best performance at a major to date, reaching the last 16 at the Australian Open, but it was on the ATP Tour where he made most impact this season, winning five titles – four of which came on clay.

“Many of the matches I have played this year have been decided by only two or three points,” said Ruud champion in Geneva, Bastad, Gstaad, Kitzbuhel and San Diego – his first hard-court title.

“The majority of my wins have been decided by only a few points, but that is something you build up when you play a lot of matches. It is easy to doubt yourself in the toughest moments, but this year has been great for me when it has come down to this as I have played aggressively and well on the biggest points.”

The 22-year-old’s semi-final run in Turin may have brought his ATP season to an end, but there was one assignment left: guiding Norway to the Davis Cup by Rakuten Qualifiers 2022 with victory over Ukraine in the World Group I Play-offs in Oslo.

“Even though this year has been incredible for me, this was a perfect way to end this season,” Ruud said. “We have won two Davis Cup ties this year, so this was a really good way to end this year.”