ITF

Welcome to the new-look ITFWorld. The Spring issue of our official magazine is always a full one, covering as it does events from the start of the tennis season, and the Spring 2018 edition is no exception, rounding up the action from Hopman Cup through to the Fed Cup by BNP Paribas semifinals. My congratulations go to all the winning players and teams in this busy first part of the year. Off court this has been a remarkably active period for the ITF as we continue to deliver on our ITF2024 strategy to secure a strong future for our sport. I have a number of exciting developments to share with you. A GAME-CHANGER FOR DAVIS CUP In March we announced the exciting new proposal for a transformation of Davis Cup by BNP Paribas, which involves a 25-year partnership with the investment group Kosmos. This will create a season-ending World Cup of Tennis Finals to crown the Davis Cup champions, and generate record levels of new revenue for the development of tennis. This major new season-ending event will be held in a world-class city starting in November 2019, and consists of 18 nations playing in a round-robin format before the knockout stages. Around $20 million in prize money will be on offer at the Finals. This is a game-changing proposal that offers immense opportunities for the ITF, our member nations, and the sport. When the ITF Board of Directors and Kosmos met in March, the Board was unanimous in its support of this bold and ambitious plan pending due diligence and details. Since then we have been in negotiations to develop the details of the proposal, and are carrying out due diligence. The findings will be presented to the Board in June for their approval to take forward a final proposal to the ITF Annual General Meeting in August. The ITF has been talking to all of its stakeholders and has kept them updated as the details of the Kosmos proposal and the event's format are refined. I have been visiting all the ITF's regions to share details with our member nations personally, both about this very important issue and about other areas of the ITF's work. I attended the Tennis Europe AGM in Budapest in March and went to the Asian Tennis Federation board meeting in New Delhi. I travelled to Africa in April – first to Kenya, then the CAT AGM in Rwanda. In May I attended the COSAT AGM in Asuncion, Paraguay and in June I will go to Cancun, Mexico for the COTECC AGM. FED CUP FOCUS Although the spotlight is on Davis Cup by BNP Paribas, the ITF remains committed to enhancing Fed Cup by BNP Paribas. Our immediate priority is to increase the size of the World Group to 16 nations in 2019, played over the traditional three weeks and including a Fed Cup Final Four event. This would allow twice as many nations to challenge for the trophy each year, and better movement between the World Group and zone group events. The ITF is working hard to ensure gender equality – of which more below – and in the longer term we see Fed Cup as having the same possibilities as Davis Cup. We envisage that in future, the World Group of Fed Cup will replicate that of Davis Cup by becoming a year-end event in one location where multiple nations contest the title. The ITF Board will continue to explore how enhancements to our flagship women's team competition can be achieved. UPHOLDING INTEGRITY Just before ITFWorld went to print, the findings of the Independent Review Panel's (IRP) Interim Report on integrity in tennis were published. The ITF, alongside the four Grand Slam tournaments and the ATP and WTA, are pleased with the IRP's findings that they have seen no evidence of any institutional corruption or cover-up by the tennis authorities or the Tennis Integrity Unit. We are also pleased that the IRP has recognised the positive actions taken by the sport to address the integrity issues it faces. Following an initial review of the Interim Report we confirmed our agreement in principle with the five broad recommendations proposed by the IRP. Each of these now needs detailed exploration and analysis, and our immediate priority is to provide the input requested by the IRP by carefully reviewing, considering and responding to the recommendations put forward for consultation, ahead of publication of the Final Report. As the world governing body of tennis, the ITF is committed to upholding the highest levels of integrity and eliminating corruption. The IRP worked extensively The first few months of 2018 have been a busy time for the ITF, which has been working hard on several major projects that could make a big difference to the future of tennis, says ITF President David Haggerty. 04 ITFWorld // SPRING 2018 New beginnings T H E P R E S I D E N T ' S V I E W In March we announced the exciting new proposal for a transformation of Davis Cup by BNP Paribas

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