Issue link: http://itf.uberflip.com/i/1393022
ITF World Summer 2021 43 21 losses – a remarkable 93% win-rate. Powless went on to win World Championship doubles titles alongside George McCabe in 2017 and King Van Nostrand in 2019 and enjoyed prolific success with USA in the Seniors World Team Championships, collecting team titles on 13 occasions between 1999 and 2019. Named 'US Seniors Tennis John Powless, a hugely successful competitor in ITF Seniors Tennis with a storied career in tennis and basketball, sadly passed away in May. Born in Flora, Illinois, Powless was a talented sportsman and excelled in both sports during his early life. He served for six years as captain and coach of the USA Junior Davis Cup team, having earlier coached the University of Wisconsin's men's basketball team for eight seasons, but it was tennis that dominated his later life. Powless ranked at No. 1 in four age categories on the ITF Seniors Tennis Tour, first becoming the best player in the world in the 70+ age category in July 2004, before later taking top spot in the 75+, 80+ and 85+ age categories. He collected 69 singles titles on the ITF Seniors Tour between 2002 and 2019, headlined by his victory in the 80+ age category at the 2013 Super-Seniors World Championships in Austria, and won 288 matches to just Player of the Millennium' in 1999, he was inducted into the US Senior Tennis Hall of Fame in 2000. Powless last competed on the circuit in November 2019, ending his Seniors career in the fashion that he was accustomed – with an emphatic victory at an 85+ tournament in Argentina. He will be sorely missed by the ITF Seniors Tennis community. OBITUARY JOHN POWLESS Ahead of Roland Garros, the time in the tennis season when the ITF traditionally honours its World Champions, the ITF celebrated its 2019 ITF World Champions. Australia's Ashleigh Barty and Rafael Nadal of Spain were among the eleven players presented with their ITF World Champion awards. ITF President David Haggerty said: "It is indicative of the times that the 2019 ITF World Champions trophies are being presented in 2021 and all around the world, instead of at the ITF celebrates 2019 World Champions annual ITF World Champions Awards Dinner. Due to the disruption to the tennis calendar in 2020, we decided not to name ITF World Champions for 2020 so we are delighted to have the opportunity to acknowledge the top-ranked players in an extraordinary season." The ITF's selection of its senior World Champions is based on an objective system that considers all results during the year, giving special weight to Grand Slam tournaments and two international team competitions, Davis Cup by Rakuten and Billie Jean King Cup by BNP Paribas. The ITF Wheelchair World Champions and ITF Junior World Champions recognise the year-end No.1 in the ITF world rankings. WATC H M O R E