ITF

Review of the year By ITF President Francesco Ricci Bitti There is always something extraordinary about the olympics and this year was no exception A gainst a backdrop of continued economic uncertainty, the ITF delivered an operating surplus of $0.7m in 2012 and the value of our long term investment portfolio grew by nine per cent, more than recovering the losses it experienced in the previous year. It was a challenging year financially, as sponsorship income was lower than expected. However, we took early action to identify expenditure savings which could be made without impacting our activities and we were also fortunate that the success of the London Olympic Games was reflected in the level of income we received. Anyone compiling a 'Best of 2012' list will have many highlights to choose from but, for me, the most compelling nine days of the year were the Olympic Tennis Event at Wimbledon. This takes nothing away from the Paralympics, the Grand Slam tournaments, the Davis Cup by BNP Paribas, Fed Cup by BNP Paribas, Hyundai Hopman Cup and both Tour Finals, but there is always something extraordinary about the Olympics and this event was no exception. Who could have predicted Andy Murray would win the gold medal, defeating Roger Federer in a repeat of the Wimbledon final just a few weeks earlier? The emotion when he won was not just because he is British and the crowd was most emphatically on his side, but also because his huge promise as a tennis player had finally been fulfilled. Andy and his partner Laura Robson continued to delight the British crowds 2 REVIEW OF THE YEAR by winning the silver medal in mixed doubles, a resounding success in its first year back in the Olympic programme. My other favourite memories include Serena Williams bouncing for joy when she secured the gold in women's singles, the four emotional Frenchmen who won the silver and bronze medals in men's doubles, Juan Martin del Potro in tears at winning the men's singles bronze and the elation of Max Mirnyi and Victoria Azarenka who took the gold medal in the mixed. This year had many heroes and heroines. Novak Djokovic, our men's World Champion for the second consecutive year, was the most consistent player of 2012, winning the Australian Open and the ATP World Tour Finals and reaching the final at Roland Garros and the US Open. Andy Murray silenced his critics by lifting his first Grand Slam trophy in New York. Roger Federer claimed his 17th Grand Slam title at Wimbledon and Rafael Nadal, whose year was cut short by injury, secured his 11th at Roland Garros. David Ferrer, who won seven titles including a Masters-1000 and more matches than anyone else (76), looked as fresh and focussed at the Davis Cup Final as he did when winning his first title of the year at Auckland. Tomas Berdych and Radek Stepanek put paid to the notion that you need a big team to win the Davis Cup. The Czech pair won every live rubber for their team this year, singles and doubles, and when Radek Stepanek defeated Spain's Nicolas Almagro in four sets and ended a 32-year drought for their country in the

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