Issue link: http://itf.uberflip.com/i/560492
8 ITFWORLD SUMMER 2015 FRANCESCO RICCI BITTI Another area where we have made strides is integrity, through the activity of our Science and Technical department, our administration of the anti-doping programme on behalf of the governing bodies of the sport and our participation in the Tennis Integrity Unit with those same bodies. Is there any regret, or area in which you feel not enough progress has been made? Davis Cup by BNP Paribas is, in my view, the best competition in our sport with an atmosphere and fans that are uniquely its own. It disappoints me that a few people with vested agendas continually find ways to criticise this great competition and even fewer have suggestions for improvement that have not already been seriously considered by the Davis Cup Committee. At the same time people should recognise that missing some players every round is inevitable, given the evolution of the modern game at the professional level and the subsequent demands on top players. Davis Cup is not mandatory, it is a difficult competition to win, the dates are not ideal, the prize money needs to grow and yet we still get some 90 percent of players to play every year. In retrospect, we should have fought harder to keep our dates two weeks after the Slams and we should have found more financial resourcing for Davis Cup and Fed Cup. Despite all of that, Davis Cup and Fed Cup offer players, national associations and fans something truly special and I hope that they are still going strong in another 115 years. Another thing that I find disappointing is the criticism that the ITF gets when it is just fulfilling its responsibility as the administrator of the Joint Anti-Doping Programme. We work on behalf of all the governing bodies in tennis and yet, when there is an issue, it is the ITF alone that usually bears the brunt of the criticism. I am always encouraged when I hear players speak out against doping or corruption in tennis because I do believe that they value a clean sport but it is discouraging when we are cast as the cruel prosecutor by others when we are just doing this important job. It saddens me that, across the sport in our national associations, women are grossly under-represented. For a sport that prides itself on equal footing for both men and women, we need to work harder to attract women to management roles and put the best of them on our committees and elect them to our board and one day as President. What does the near future hold for you? Will you continue your work with the IOC, for example? I am President of ASOIF, the Association of Summer Olympic Federations, and on the Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 Coordination Commissions, the WADA Executive Board as well as serving as the Chairman of the WADA Finance Committee and in other roles with the IOC Agenda 2020 implementation, thanks to the confidence that IOC President Thomas Bach has shown in me. I will help in any way that I can with the transition of the new ITF President. I have also regularly been invited to lecture at universities on sport management and it is satisfying to have the opportunity to transfer my experience to a younger generation. How are things progressing in terms of the tennis event at the next Olympic Games? Overall I think things are going well for the Olympic Tennis Event. The facility is under construction and will be ready in the autumn in time for our test event in December. The Athletes Village is nearly finished and looks excellent and, fortunately, it is very close to our venue making it easy for players to compete and enjoy the unique Village experience. The Rio 2016 team seems very committed to delivering a great Games and I am confident they will do so. The ITF has announced ambitious plans to re-structure the Pro Circuits in the coming few years. Do you think that these plans go far enough to help players that struggle financially on the lower rungs of the tennis ladder? This is a very difficult question. Clearly we need to do more to help the talented players starting out in the professional game and that means both playing opportunities and more prize money. But there is a flip side to this in that many Pro Circuit organisers, especially in developing countries, cannot afford to raise the prize money and stage the event. We have spent over a year looking at the situation and evaluating our next steps. The ITF Board recently approved some prize money increases for the Pro Circuits, starting in 2016, and the ITF will contribute financially, but we know that we need to continue to look at the formula to see what we can do to improve conditions for talented players while not pricing tournaments out of the business. Francesco Ricci Bitti with Roland Garros boys' runner-up Taylor Fritz The Swiss made history in 2014, winning their first Davis Cup by BNP Paribas title