Pierce and Woodforde re-appointed ITF Board Athlete Representatives
The ITF Board of Directors, elected on Sunday 24 September at the 2023 ITF AGM in Cancun, Mexico, have unanimously re-appointed Mary Pierce and Mark Woodforde as the two ITF Board Athlete representatives for the 2023-2027 term. Pierce and Woodforde have served in their current role since 2015.
ITF President David Haggerty said: "Mary and Mark have made significant contributions to the ITF Board over the last eight years and we are delighted to have them continue another four years to bring the athlete’s voice into our board meetings and help us make informed decisions for the good of tennis and the ITF member nations."
Pierce and Woodforde also serve as Chairs of the Women’s and Men’s ITF World Tennis Tour Player Panels, respectively. The player panels provide a forum for players to provide their input and have their say on how the World Tennis Tour is run, with members elected by their fellow players. More information on the Player Panels is available here.
Woodforde also chairs the ITF’s Davis Cup committee, while Pierce is a member of the ITF’s Billie Jean King Cup committee, and both are members of the ITF’s Olympic tennis committee.
Pierce is a two-time Grand Slam singles champion, having won the titles at the 1995 Australian Open and at 2000 Roland Garros, also winning the women’s doubles title at the latter event. She remains the last French player to win a women’s or men’s singles title at Roland Garros. She reached a career-high singles ranking of No. 3 and contested 22 Billie Jean King Cup (formerly Fed Cup) ties for France between 1990 and 2005, helping the team become world champions in both 1997 and 2003. She is also a three-time Olympian, representing France at Barcelona 1992, Atlanta 1996 and Athens 2004.
Woodforde had an impressive singles career, reaching the world’s Top 20 and advancing to the semi-finals at the 1996 Australian Open, and is well known for his successes in doubles. He won 12 Grand Slam men’s doubles titles, 11 of which came alongside Todd Woodbridge, with the “Woodies” being widely regarded as one of the best doubles teams of all time. The pair also won Olympic gold for Australia at Atlanta 1996, Olympic silver at Sydney 2000, and were members of the victorious Australian Davis Cup team in 1999.
Pierce said: “I am delighted to have been re-appointed to the ITF Board and, alongside fellow Board members and key stakeholders, to continue the work we started for the betterment of the sport we all love.
“Tennis is a unique platform for the professional and personal development of athletes from all corners of the globe. I am proud that the ITF and WTA worked together to increase the number of women’s tournaments on the World Tennis Tour so that women and men have equal opportunity to progress. I will continue to ensure that human and sporting values are upheld, that professional athletes are protected and have a safe place to play, and that the women players’ voices are heard and listened to.”
Woodforde said: “I am very pleased to return to the ITF Board for the next four years and look forward to continuing the ITF’s mission of delivering tennis for future generations. With Mary, I will endeavour to represent our athletes and ensure that their opinions are among the key considerations in ITF decision-making over the coming years involving the Davis Cup, the Olympics and the ITF World Tennis Tour. It has been a privilege to serve on the Board alongside Mary and the other members for the last eight years and I am excited about what we can achieve in the future.”