ITF

The cornerstone of the ITF Communications activities in 2014 was the highly successful "Show Your Colours" campaign for Davis Cup by BNP Paribas and Fed Cup by BNP Paribas. With 100 per cent take-up by the national associations, the campaign displayed the competitions in a vibrant yet consistent way across the globe and was used by the ITF for the digital and social media activities that increasingly are the focus of the department. Both competitions had excellent years with two outstanding Finals that attracted significant attention from fans and media. The Davis Cup Final between France and Switzerland attracted the largest ever crowd for a sanctioned tennis event and saw Switzerland with Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka lift the trophy for the first time. The Fed Cup Final between Czech Republic and Germany was played before a sell-out crowd in Prague where Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova defeated Angelique Kerber in a compelling singles match to secure the Czechs an eighth title. The ITF World Champions Dinner, held annually since 1978 on the second Tuesday of Roland Garros, is managed by the Communications Department. The ITF's highest honour, the Philippe Chatrier Award, was presented to Australian doubles legends, Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde, for the contributions that they have made to tennis in a variety of ways since their retirement from the game. A special Seniors award was presented to German player Heide Orth for her long and successful career. The department has shifted its focus towards the web and social media, with fewer publications printed during the year. The two exceptions are ITF World, the ITF's flagship magazine, and The ITF Year, an annual compendium of tennis information. In total, the ITF's digital properties saw a 40 per cent increase in 2014 with over 52 million visits from more than 12 million unique visitors. New records were also set for both Davis Cup and Fed Cup websites with each property receiving more visitors than ever before. Davis Cup registered almost seven million visitor sessions to finish the year 28 per cent up, while Fed Cup saw a 13 per cent increase in traffic compared with 2013. The 2014 Davis Cup Final was the biggest- ever web weekend for DavisCup.com with more than 1.37 million visitor sessions. The flagship social media accounts continued to see significant growth in 2014, with Davis Cup and Fed Cup almost doubling in size, while Juniors Facebook also saw almost a 100 per cent increase in likes. Chinese social media was launched across the ITF, Davis Cup and Fed Cup channels. Commencing with the Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing in August, the social media accounts in China were rolled out for Davis Cup in September ahead of the semifinals and Fed Cup in November ahead of the Final. The department had a team on site at the Youth Olympic Games providing a daily live blog, photography and interviews to support this important event. As part of its remit to provide services for international media, the department has a team on site at all four Grand Slams and at selected Davis Cup, Fed Cup, Junior, Senior and Beach Tennis events during the year. The department also liaises with the press officers from World Group Davis Cup and Fed Cup nations, offering advice and creating a resource in order to improve working conditions for journalists at our key events and encourage extra promotion of the competitions. The ITF is also responsible for the formulation and distribution of the ITF's position on a wide range of topics including anti-doping, player participation and other ad hoc topics that arise during the year. PRESIDENTIAL & COMMUNICATIONS: COMMUNICATIONS 31 COMMUNICATIONS

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