Early marker: A year-end championship crown for a young Alcaraz could have been a good staging point in his nascent career | Photo: Getty Images
From introducing competitive tennis to budding youngsters to laying out a clear-cut pathway towards the upper echelons of the sport, the International Tennis Federation (ITF) does a host of things. ‘From Playground to Podium’ is after all one of its flagship slogans.
In an interview to The Hindu on the sidelines of the ITF Women’s World Tennis Tour event at the Bowring Institute in Bengaluru, Andrew Moss, Strategy and Pathway Head, ITF World Tennis Tour, discussed ITF’s sprawling governance mandate, players’ financial constraints, tournament parity between men and women, expansion plans and more. Excerpts:
How is it being in India and what are your thoughts on how the ITF World Tennis Tour is progressing here?
We’ve been really delighted in the last couple of years to be able to partner a lot with the AITA (All India Tennis Association). We’re acutely aware of the fact that it’s a very costly business for professional tennis players with the travel and accommodation. What we want to do is provide opportunities in their own countries so that cost is less and it’s more about ability and being able to climb the rankings. We’re delighted that in the last 12 months we have introduced a new category of women’s events, a $40,000 tournament (W40), of which there are four in India this year. And we are looking to grow that next year.
You mentioned the importance of making it easier for players to manage costs. But apart from say the top-200, it’s tough for others. Are there any efforts to ensure that more people can live off the money they make by playing tennis?
One of the things that the ITF has invested itself in is prize money on the women’s World Tennis Tour. Last year (2023), it was over $17 million, and that was a record. It was two million more than in 2022, which was also a record. There are some smaller things that you can do as well, like having tournaments in consecutive weeks, either in the same country or at small distances between countries.
One of the things we did at the start of 2023, and we’re doing at the start of 2024, is having the same women’s $40,000 tournaments in consecutive weeks in Thailand and India because the visa travel is quite easy. We are also going to survey players’ costs. If they’re playing in their country, what kind of travel and accommodation costs…
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