ITF

28 ITFWorld // SPRING 2018 D E V E L O P M E N T The Grand Slam tournaments have selected 29 players from 20 countries to receive the 2018 International Player Grand Slam® Grants financed by the Grand Slam Development Fund (GSDF). The Programme was introduced last year and in 2018 the GSDF Administrative Committee has more than doubled the amount of players receiving grants and taken total funding to $650,000. The Committee considers specific age, ranking and regional representation criteria, with all recipients deemed to show exceptional potential. Twelve men and 11 women will receive $25,000 grants: Magdelena Frech (POL), Dalma Galfi (HUN), Xinyu Gao (CHN), Valentini Grammatikopoulou (GRE), Lloyd Harris (RSA), Youssef Hossam (EGY), Hubert Hurkacz (POL), Soon Woo Kwon (KOR) Duckhee Lee (KOR), Edan Leshem (ISR), Fangzhou Liu (CHN), Kamil Majchrzak (POL), Sebastian Ofner (AUT), Rebecca Peterson (SWE), Zsombor Piros (HUN), Casper Ruud (NOR), Sabina Sharipova (UZB), Ipek Soylu (TUR), Fanni Stollar (HUN), Viktoriya Tomova (BUL), Elias Ymer (SWE), Mikael Ymer (SWE) and Tamara Zidansek (SLO). Additionally, two men and four women will receive $12,500 grants as the highest-ranked players in their respective regions, to ensure that at least one player from each region receives a grant: Hugo Dellien (BOL), Darian King (BAR), Daniela Seguel (CHI), Chanel Simmonds (RSA), Abigail Tere-Apisah (PNG) and Renata Zarazua (MEX). This year's recipients include eight players who received grants in 2017 and who continue to meet the GSDF Committee's criteria. New recipients who continue to meet the criteria will be eligible for an additional grant of up to $25,000 in 2019. 2018 International Player Grand Slam® Grant awards New GSDF touring teams GSDF grant recipient Darian King representing Barbados in Davis Cup by BNP Paribas Daniela Vismane reached the Australian Open quarterfinals Two new International GSDF teams have been introduced for 2018. The first International 18 & Under GSDF Team to Australia since 2007, financed by the Grand Slam Development Fund (GSDF), travelled down under in January and was based in the state of Victoria for three weeks with coaches Roberta Burzagli, Adrian Muscillo and Glenn Hamilton. The nine-strong team of five boys and four girls took part in a training camp before heading to the Grade 1 junior tournament in Traralgon then the junior Australian Open. They finished with some strong results, highlighted by Latvian Daniela Vismane's run to the quarterfinals of the Australian Open girls singles. The other girls in the team were Gergana Topalova of Bulgaria, Sohyun Park of Korea and Sada Nahimana of Burundi. Romania's Filip Cristian Jianu reached the semifinals of the boys doubles in Melbourne, alongside non-GSDF player Thiago Agustin Tirante of Argentina. Jianu's fellow GSDF teammates were Adrian Andreev of Bulgaria, Christian Didier Chin of Malaysia, Yanki Erel of Turkey and Yeongseok Jeong of Korea. The GSDF provides players with the opportunity to take part in top-level international competition as well as gain invaluable experience of travelling abroad as part of a team under the guidance of a team coach. The International 14 & Under GSDF Team to Florida 2018 will travel to the USA in November. This new initiative will provide the opportunity for the best 14-and-under boy and girl from each region to compete against the top 14-and under players in the world at the Eddie Herr and Junior Orange Bowl tournaments. The six girls and six boys selected for this new four-week tour will be announced later in the year. The Development Programme is funded by the ITF and the Grand Slam tournaments via the Grand Slam Development Fund. The programme is also supported by Olympic Solidarity and the International Tennis Hall of Fame. Development is a key priority for the ITF under its long-term strategic plan ITF2024. In 2018, total funds available for Development are in excess of $10 million, an increase of $4 million since 2016.

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