ITF

THE PRESIDENT'S VIEW W elcome to a special edition of ITFWorld, in which the Olympic and Paralympic Games are commemorated and the achievements of the athletes who competed and triumphed on behalf of their nations at Tokyo 2020 celebrated. Looking back, the Olympics and Paralympics were huge successes with so many engaging and intriguing storylines emerging. Tokyo was very well prepared to host the Games and every single person involved with their staging should be congratulated. The complexities involved in rearranging delayed events of this magnitude are phenomenal and, while it was not possible to accommodate fans in the arenas due to Covid-19 restrictions, the power of the Olympic and Paralympic Movements prevailed. Despite the lack of supporters, there was still an incredibly absorbing atmosphere, and you could almost feel the electricity during the final contest of Tokyo 2020 when Japan's Shingo Kunieda triumphed to win men's singles gold at the Paralympic Wheelchair Tennis Event on home soil. It was quite a moment. A few volunteers had made their way into the stadium to watch Shingo's showdown with Tom Egberink of the Netherlands and even though there was only a handful of people present, the stadium felt alive. Shingo winning gold for Japan, in the city of his birth, having dealt with the level of pressure and expectation upon him, was a fantastic accomplishment and it is a major element of the Tokyo 2020 story. Diede de Groot of the Netherlands and Australia's Dylan Alcott claiming gold in the women's and quad singles respectively, giving themselves a chance of an unprecedented calendar Golden Slam – which they both ultimately achieved – heading to the US Open, was also very inspiring. Heartening It was a similar vibe at the Olympics as Belinda Bencic and Alexander Zverev, gold medallists in singles, took their confidence from triumphing in Tokyo into the US Open, where they reached the latter stages. After Belinda and Sascha topped their respective podiums, a lovely photograph emerged of the two of them receiving their ITF Junior World Champion awards at the ITF World Champions Dinner in 2014. Such moments reinforce the important role which the ITF plays in the development of players as they progress along the player pathway, and in Belinda and Sascha's case that has laid the foundations for them becoming Olympic champions. It was also heartening to see Karen Khachanov and Andrey Rublev become the first tennis players to win medals at both the Youth Olympic Games and now the Olympics. At the 2014 Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing, Rublev claimed bronze in the boys' singles, while he and Khachanov combined to secure silver in the doubles. It is always exciting when a new generation of player – individuals you have witnessed playing junior competitions and representing their nations at junior team events – makes its mark on the global stage. Prioritising welfare Focusing upon the Paralympics in the first instance, while the Games were a huge success, taking everything from Tokyo into account, it is our intention to expand the Paralympic Wheelchair Tennis Event at Paris 2024 to 11 days. During the Paralympics, there was high humidity which meant there were days when the start of play was delayed, while it rained during the last four days. memories ITF President David Haggerty uses his welcome address to applaud the athletes who provided moments to savour and made the Olympic and Paralympic Games at Tokyo 2020 so unforgettable TREASURED DAVID HAGGERTY ITF President 04 Tokyo 2020 ITF World

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