ITF

ITFWORLD WINTER 2015 11 www.itftennis.com is important in tennis with the number of different bodies involved. Haggerty's experience serves him well with this as he is an experienced tennis administrator, formerly the Chairman, CEO and President of the USTA, and a Vice President on the ITF Board of Directors from 2013 to 2015. He also had a 30-year career in the racket industry in a number of different roles with manufacturers. "I'm happy to say the conversations have already begun," Haggerty reveals. "I have had conversations with Steve Simon [Chief Executive] at the WTA, Chris Kermode [Executive Chairman and President] at the ATP and Grand Slam colleagues, so tennis will grow and we will all do well as the sport does better. If we take that approach and grow the sport, we will all get our piece of the pie whatever that happens to be, and that goes for the players, tournament directors, manufacturers, sponsors and nations." Development is another crucial area of importance for Haggerty as he wishes to further build on the work already done by the ITF to help member nations and improve the level of tennis around the world. "There's so much difference between nations in what the needs are," says Haggerty. "Some nations need infrastructure. Some of them may also need equipment. And then you have other nations which are maybe more developed from an infrastructure perspective and they have good players, but maybe need grants to help those players travel more and see their capabilities. "My dream is to really come up with the revenue that we have, stand back, put together criteria and a plan to say, 'We're going to start with these 18 nations and it is going to happen this way,' so everyone knows what to expect and how to do it. It's not a cookie cutter approach that one thing is going to work for every nation. To me, we need a strategic plan to step back and really talk about how we're going to achieve the mission with more funding." Haggerty has taken up his new role ahead of an Olympic year, with the 31st Summer Games taking place in the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro in 2016. It is a prospect which hugely excites him, though he feels tennis can make more of its privileged position within the Olympics. "One of the seven strategic priorities will be for us to really increase and elevate our awareness and our place in the Olympics," admits Haggerty. "Tennis is relatively new to the Olympics compared to many of the different sports that are there. There is so much more that we can do to help elevate and became a better partner with the Olympics. You will see a continued interest in that area and growth for us." Though Haggerty has only just settled into his new surroundings at the ITF headquarters, he already has a clear vision of what he would like to have achieved whenever it is in the future that his reign as President comes to an end. "I think having the ITF in a very good financial position," says Haggerty. "I am in no way saying we aren't now, but I want to really grow this and have Davis Cup and Fed Cup be the pinnacle team events. I want our place in the Olympics to be as good as, or better than, where we are today, and our relationships with the players and the tours being one where we've helped tennis grow. "Our mission as the ITF is to promote and develop growth of tennis around the world. If we do that and have more people playing, more people watching, and have the best events, I'll be so happy, pleased and honoured to have been a part of that." Developing tennis around the world is important to Haggerty Serena Williams on the podium at London 2012

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