ITF

CONTENTS ITF World Spring 2022 3 in this issue EDITOR Ross McLean CONTRIBUTORS Chris Bowers is a writer, broadcaster and tennis historian who has covered the global tennis tour for more than 30 years. Among his many books are biographies of Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic, four Davis Cup yearbooks in the 2000s, and in 2013 the ITF's centenary commemorative book, 'A Century of Contribution'. Photo credits: Ron Angle, Mathias Bergeld, Bildbyran, Manuela Davies, Corinne Dubreuil, Ray Giubilo, Espen Hildrup, Milan Illik, ITF and CSTA Archive, Dowon Kim, Klublu, Daniel Kopatsch, Henk Koster, Sergio Llamera, Hiromasa Mano, Susan Mullane, Newspix24, Kalle Parkkinen, Scott Powick/ SMP Images, Manuel Queimadelos, Andrea Raffin, Hiroshi Sato, Martin Sidorjak, Srdjan Stevanovic, Tennis Kenya, Arata Yamaoka, Marcello Zambrana, Paul Zimmer Cover photo: Paul Zimmer DESIGN AND PRODUCTION Designed and produced by ingeniousdesign.co.uk ITFWorld is published by ITF Ltd, PO Box N-272, Nassau, Bahamas. All rights reserved throughout the world. No part of ITFWorld may be reproduced without the prior written permission of the publisher. Opinions expressed are not necessarily those of the publisher. The publishers accept no responsibility for return of manuscripts, photos or artwork. Whilst we make every effort to ensure that all editorial material is factually correct at the time of going to press, we cannot accept responsibility if any errors occur for the 4 President's View ITF President David Haggerty reflects on the progressive steps taken in recent months 6 Farewell Ash, thank you for the memories Mark Woodforde pays tribute to Ashleigh Barty following her shock retirement 10 Love it and go for it! Billie Jean King gives a rousing team talk to those representing their nations ahead of the Billie Jean King Cup Qualifiers 12 From orphanage to Oscar-winning kudos Kenya's Angella Okutoyi sits down with ITFWorld to discuss humble beginnings, Lupita Nyong'o and her tennis book 18 Photo Feature: Meshkatolzahra Safi 20 'Top 10 is where the big boys play, now I want to make my Grand Slam mark' Norway's Casper Ruud has achieved much but, as he tells ITFWorld, the moment has come to take the next step 26 Davis Cup Qualifiers: Roving Reporter ITFWorld tells the story of the Davis Cup by Rakuten Qualifiers through a photo montage and the voices of those involved 30 Get to Know ITFWorld learns more about two promising young players with huge potential: Petra Marcinko and Ignacio Buse 32 Emerging Power There is an increased focus at the ITF upon development and participation. Chris Bowers analyses the state of play in West and North Africa 38 'It wasn't until I was 75 that my game really improved' Following the introduction of 30+ and 90+ events to the ITF Seniors Tour, ITFWorld discovers how the new groups are progressing 42 News Stories from around the ITF 20 38 12 10 C O V E R S T O R Y matters arising as a result. Views expressed by ITFWorld do not necessarily reflect official ITF policy. It should not be inferred that products advertised in this magazine are officially approved by the ITF. © 2021 ITF Ltd. Please address all correspondence regarding ITFWorld to Ross McLean, ITF Communications Department at ross.mclean@itftennis.com

• Cover