Issue link: http://itf.uberflip.com/i/1401406
4 • ITF Global Tennis Report 2021 This report provides new insight into the global tennis landscape and is a follow-up to the ITF Global Tennis Report 2019, for which we surveyed 195 na ons in 2018 in the largest examina on of worldwide tennis par cipa on and performance ever undertaken by the ITF. For this new edi on, we went back to the 41 na ons who accounted for 90% of the world's players, coaches, clubs and courts in the 2019 report and asked them again about par cipa on trends. Our ambi on is to build a picture over me of changes in the global tennis scene, and to survey our na ons regularly to track progress. We intend to publish an updated report in every Olympic year. Findings from the 41 na ons included in this report show growth in par cipa on – in these na ons alone, more than 87 million people play tennis, which is an increase of 4.5% since 2018. Within these na ons, 1.71% of their total popula on plays tennis. On the performance side, this report shows the sheer spread of na ons represented in the elite game - in 2019, 113 na ons had a player with a professional ranking. Each year, we see a huge number of na ons compete on the interna onal stage in our World Cup of Tennis compe ons: players from 142 countries have entered Davis Cup by Rakuten in 2020-21, and 116 na ons are taking part in Billie Jean King Cup by BNP Paribas. We have recently seen 45 na ons compete in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic tennis event, which resulted in three na ons – Brazil, New Zealand and Ukraine – winning tennis medals for the first me. The Olympics and our team compe ons provide clear inspira on and role models for aspiring players, whether their ambi on is to play recrea onally or join the professional game. We want to harness this to grow our sport from the grassroots up, and this report provides us with greater understanding of what – and where – the opportuni es are. The inaugural ITF Global Tennis Report 2019 gave the ITF insight on the total number of tennis players worldwide, something we had never had before, and enabled us to set a very clear goal: from a base of nearly 90 million people taking part, we want to increase the number of people playing to 120 million by 2030. We call this our '30 by 30' objec ve, and it is a key part of our ITF2024 strategy. We are clearly making progress towards our '30 by 30' goal but the last 18 months have shown us that life is unpredictable. The Covid-19 global pandemic put tennis 'on hold' for a me and changed how we might have expected things to evolve in our 210 member na ons. The 41 surveyed for this report are no excep on. As tennis in all its forms has restarted, it has shown resilience by growing despite these difficult mes. Covid-19 has presented both a challenge and an opportunity for a sport that can be played outdoors, in a socially distanced way and provides a huge boost to both physical and mental wellbeing. The ITF Global Tennis Report 2021 is another step on the journey we are taking with our member na ons to learn as much as we can about the global tennis landscape, so that we can direct our efforts and resources effec vely as we con nue to grow the sport we all love. I would like to thank the 41 Na onal Associa ons that supplied the detailed par cipa on data which has made this report possible. Thanks also to everyone involved in its crea on. Please enjoy reading! It is my great pleasure to introduce the ITF Global Tennis Report 2021, the ITF's latest survey of worldwide tennis par cipa on and performance. Foreword by ITF President David Haggerty