Issue link: http://itf.uberflip.com/i/1524501
2023 ITF Annual Review 19 The ITF works in partnership with our member na ons to improve tennis skills and performance around the world in under-resourced and under-represented countries. We want to increase the number of na ons represented at the top level of the sport. Annually, significant funding for this important aspect of growing the game comes from the four Grand Slam tournaments via the Grand Slam Player Development Programme (GSPDP), which invested $2.7million in 2023. The programme is operated by the ITF. Player grants In 2023, the GSPDP gave grants totalling $1.2 million to 51 junior and professional players represen ng 26 countries. Twenty-six female players received grants, and 25 male players. Promising girls and women aged 14-21 years, and boys and men aged 15-22 years, are eligible to receive this valuable funding. Support ranges from individual grants of $12,500 to $50,000. Three-quarters of the grant recipients improved their ranking during the year, with Switzerland's Dominic Stricker reaching the top 100 on the ATP rankings and Serbia's Hamad Medjedovic, winner of the Next Gen ATP Finals, finishing the season at No. 105. Of the nine top 50 juniors supported with grants, Brazil's Joao Fonseca and Mexico's Rodrigo Pacheco reached the junior No. 1 ranking, Pacheco becoming the first Mexican in history to do so. Fonseca went on to be named 2023 ITF Junior World Champion. Peru's Lucciana Perez Alarcon became the first girl from Peru to reach a junior Grand Slam final, finishing runner-up at Roland Garros. A key measure of the success of the grants programme is whether a player ul mately breaks into the top 100, and since the programme's incep on in 2017, 19 women and 22 men have achieved this. Three former GSPDP grant recipients made Grand Slam final appearances in 2023: Kazakhstan's Elena Rybakina at the Australian Open, Norway's Casper Ruud at Roland Garros, and Tunisia's Ons Jabeur at Wimbledon. All three are now mul ple Grand Slam finalists, and Rybakina was also the 2022 Wimbledon champion. PERFORMANCE PERU'S LUCCIANA PEREZ ALARCON BECAME THE FIRST GIRL FROM PERU TO REACH A JUNIOR GRAND SLAM FINAL, FINISHING RUNNER-UP AT ROLAND GARROS.