'Masters Tennis embodies World Tennis mission': all roads lead to Rome
The Masters World Championships for players aged 50+ and 55+ take place in Rome, Italy from Sunday onwards. It promises to be a high-octane spectacle, while it is also the first on-court event following the International Tennis Federation's rebrand to World Tennis. Here are the thoughts of Matt Byford, World Tennis's Executive Director of Juniors, Masters and Beach Tennis.
Here we go! The first Masters World Championships of 2026 are just days away and excitement is building as players converge on the beautiful city of Rome.
The first World Championships of the year have been a long time coming after the cancellation of the Team and Individual World Championships for those aged 60+ through to 70+ in March amid travel and safety concerns.
Nevertheless, we are ready for what promises to be a wonderful couple of weeks as some of the world’s finest players in the 50+ and 55+ age categories compete and bid for silverware in a truly wonderful setting.
The World Team Championships get underway on Sunday and will conclude on Friday 10 July, while the World Individual Championships take place from 11-18 July.
There is also additional significance to these World Championships as they are the first major on-court event to be staged under the World Tennis banner following the International Tennis Federation's rebrand to World Tennis.
Matt Byford of World Tennis
Masters Tennis very much embodies the World Tennis mission of unlocking a world of opportunity, putting more rackets in hands across the globe and enabling people to live healthier and happier lives.
As such, we cannot wait to get this new era underway with an event and Tour which is so quintessentially linked to participation and growing the game of tennis. We will be incredibly proud to fly the World Tennis flag in Rome.
I also have to say, we are delighted to be taking a World Championships to Rome. From the moment we announced the World Championships were to be held there, players who I have spoken with have been saying how much they are looking forward to it.
Italy is a very important nation within Masters Tennis as they have traditionally fielded strong teams, while some tremendous players have graced the Individual events. They also host some important Masters tournaments in places such as Sanremo, Cervio, Alassio, Bari and Milan.
You can actually see the bubbling excitement within the team selections. World Championships are the pinnacle of the World Tennis Masters Tour but the team – there are 90 men's and women's teams across the age groups – and individual entries for these World Championships look particularly strong. We are in for a treat.
One name that immediately leaps off the page is Paul Haarhuis, who is the captain of the Netherlands Davis Cup team. Paul reached No. 1 in the ATP doubles rankings during his playing days and No. 18 in singles – he is a seriously good player.
For these World Championships, we are using four traditional, high-quality tennis clubs – two either side of the Appian Way – and they all have fantastic histories. Our thanks is warmly extended to the local organising committee across all four tennis venues, as well of course to the Italian Tennis & Padel Federation (FITP).
This all feeds into our overall objectives. As well as some compelling tennis, we are keen to give the players competing an event experience. Players at these World Championships will be able to immerse themselves in Rome’s wonderful history – on and off the court.
This is the very reason why we go to places like Rome, while we always want to strike a balance between visiting new venues and providing fresh experiences with staying loyal to venues that have delivered excellent events for us previously.
Two things that are guaranteed over next few weeks are quality venues and exhilarating tennis. Players within the 50+ and 55+ age groups are very fit, mobile, energetic and hit the ball with a lot of pace.
It is at this age when we start seeing players more frequently on Tour. Generally speaking, work and family commitments are perhaps greater for players in some of the younger age groups, whereas players aged 50+ and 55+ are maybe becoming a little freer.
We do tend to see a peak with regards to frequency of participation in this age group, and what is not in short supply is competitiveness and camaraderie – which makes every World Championships special for everyone. A great spectacle awaits, which is the case for the coming months as well.
We have further World Championships in Portugal in August, Greece in October and Japan in November, while we are also consulting about rescheduling the cancelled World Championships from earlier in the year – with communication set to issued very soon.
What a second half of the year we have in prospect. In the first instance, however, all roads lead to Rome.
Find out more about the ITF World Tennis Masters Tour, including how to sign up and play, here.