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2022 ITF Annual Review

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DEVELOPMENT 16 2022 ITF Annual Review Developing the Wheelchair game We restarted the ITF Wheelchair Tennis Development Programme in 2022, inves ng $375,000 to support the grassroots growth of the wheelchair game and introducing it to new players in new countries. For more detail see page 33. ITF World Tennis Number (WTN) The ITF World Tennis Number (WTN) extended its reach in 2022, launching in 13 more na ons: Brazil, Canada, Cyprus, Denmark, Egypt, Estonia, Kazakhstan, Lithuania, Malaysia, Slovenia, Sweden, Vietnam and USA. One hundred and fi y-nine Na onal Associa ons have now signed up to adopt the ITF's global level-based tennis ra ng, launched in 2018. Collec vely, they represent an es mated 90% of the global player popula on and a poten al reach of 80 million players. Through the WTN, the ITF is crea ng the world's largest online tennis community. The WTN, underpinned by powerful technology, is a key part of the ITF's digital transforma on and a major tool for us to drive tennis par cipa on. It creates more playing opportuni es by enabling people of all ages to find opponents and doubles partners of similar levels. It also supplies a standard measure of playing ability which can be used for tournament entry instead of a ranking, making compe ve opportuni es accessible to more people. Through June 2023, 52 na ons were sharing player data via the WTN pla orm, and the algorithm calcula on of an individual's WTN was being powered by 23 million match results from all over the world. A WTN ra ng has been assigned to 1.5 million players worldwide to date. The WTN was adopted by the Intercollegiate Tennis Associa on (ITA) as the exclusive official ra ng of the ITA and US college tennis, and by the Confedera on of South American Tennis (COSAT). It was also introduced in 2022 as a secondary method of tournament acceptance for ITF Juniors and ITF Masters tournaments. Our goal is for six million players to have a WTN by the end of 2023, powered by 30 million match records. We will also invite players

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