ITF

10 ITFWORLD SUMMER 2017 Lloyd Harris has made his mark on the ITF Pro Circuit Papua New Guinea's Abigail Tere-Apisah Ilya Ivashka is already a Davis Cup regular for Belarus Mexico's Renata Zarazua Jose Statham is a Davis Cup stalwart for New Zealand "I just want to thank the [Grand Slam tournaments] for this grant, they gave me the chance to prove myself, to show myself on the court. This is who I am and hopefully I will work even harder to show I deserve much better," she added. For Victoriya Tomova, who reached a career-high ranking of 130 in May, the grant has meant being able to travel with a coach. "I didn't travel with my coach for three years before the GSDF grant because I didn't have the money for him to be paid because I have to give it for travelling and all the other expenses. So now I just started travelling again with him and we are improving a lot of stuff." The 22-year-old Bulgarian won four titles on the ITF Pro Circuit in 2016, jumping 322 places up the rankings during the season to finish at No. 152. "I had an injury in 2015, I didn't play for five months. And I really improved my game last year, I won really strong tournaments, I won $50K [tournaments], I played final of $100,000 and it really helped my confidence to build up and I'm really happy about it. I hope I can make good progress." Ymer, a familiar face representing Sweden in Davis Cup by BNP Paribas, currently plays mainly on the Challenger circuit. The 21-year-old describes a situation faced by many players looking to make an impression as a professional. "From 19, right after juniors, I started travelling full [time], and of course it's different. I started very well, I never was on the tour but I qualified for all the four Slams in one year, so that was very good, and then… Everything catches up with you and you still have to be good, everyone knows you, so you have to all the time develop your game." For Ymer, backing from the GSDF means, "I can plan big, and I can be more professional in my development." International Player Grand Slam Grants may be a new initiative, but the four Grand Slam tournaments have been contributing towards the growth of the sport since 1986. Thirty-one years later, more than $48 million has been donated by the Australian Open, Roland Garros, Wimbledon and the US Open with the specific mission of encouraging and increasing competitive opportunities in developing tennis regions. Money has been provided for Beatriz Haddad Maia played her first two Grand Slam events this year GRAND SLAM ® DEVELOPMENT FUND

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