The International Tennis Federation (ITF) designates a World Champion each year based on its own majority opinion of performances throughout the year, emphasizing the Grand Slam tournaments,[1] and also considering team events such as the Davis Cup and Fed Cup.[2] Men's and women's singles champions were first named in 1978; the title is now also awarded for doubles, wheelchair, and junior players.[3] It is sometimes named the "ITF Player of the Year" award, alluding to similar other year-end awards in tennis.[4]
Rules and procedures
The ITF's constitution states that no tennis tournament can be designated the "World Championships" without unanimous consent of the ITF Council.[5] There is currently no such tournament. The constitution also states:[6]
The ITF may award the title of World Champion to players who, in the opinion of the Board of Directors, are the most outstanding players in any one-year. The names of players who have been awarded this title shall be listed in the Roll of Honour.
The opinion of the Board of Directors is taken to be equivalent to the majority opinions of the members of the Board.
It also states:[1]
Official Tennis Championships [i.e. the Grand Slam events] shall be the decisive factor in the determination of the ITF World Champions for each year.
The boys' and girls' singles and doubles titles prior to 2003 were awarded based on world ranking. Since then singles and doubles rankings have been combined in a single award each for boys and for girls.[7]
The world champion accolade has been extended by the ITF to wheelchair tennis players of the Men's and Women's division since 1991 and also based on world ranking. In November 2017, the ITF announced that the quad wheelchair tennis division is to be recognised in its annual list of ITF World Champions.[8]
In 1996, the Philippe Chatrier Award was introduced, honouring individuals or organisations who have made outstanding contributions to tennis globally, both on and off the court. The award is considered to be the ITF's highest accolade and is named after the former French tennis player Philippe Chatrier, who was President of the governing body between 1977 and 1991.[9]
The ITF World Champions Dinner takes place annually to honour the previous year's champions,[10] who are presented with a trophy, but not any monetary prize.[11] The dinner was held during the French Open up until 2022, but since 2023 has been held during Wimbledon.
For 2020 there were no ITF World Champion awards given due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The tennis season was suspended for about 5 months for both the female and the male tennis players.[12]
Men's singles
The first men's panel in 1978 had three members, Don Budge, Fred Perry, and Lew Hoad,[11][13] who attended the season's Grand Slam events at ITF expense to inform their choice.[14] The 1983 panel split two to one between John McEnroe (votes of Budge and Perry) and Mats Wilander (vote of Hoad).[15] The 1984 panel had five members,[16] while the 1985 panel had four: Budge, Perry, Hoad, and Tony Trabert.[17] When Ivan Lendl was chosen as champion for 1985, the panel's announcement was accompanied with a rebuke for Lendl's criticism of some tournaments and his refusal to play in the Davis Cup.[17] Perry and Trabert were on the 1986 panel, with performances outside the Grand Slams taken into consideration.[18]
The 1990 designation of Lendl as champion was a surprise.[19] That year, the Association of Tennis Professionals named Stefan Edberg its "Player of The Year", in accordance with the ATP rankings, while Tennis Magazine (France) ranked Edberg first, Andre Agassi second, and Lendl third.[20]Tennis also suggested the ITF was punishing Edberg for denigrating the Grand Slam Cup tournament it had introduced.[20] The ITF panel, of Perry, Trabert, and Frank Sedgman, called it "the toughest decision any of us can remember having to make", and stated it was Lendl's better average performance in the Grand Slams that made the difference.[19]
Other instances when the ITF choices differed from the ATP rankings are 1978, with Bjorn Borg being favoured over Jimmy Connors, 1982, with Connors favoured over McEnroe, 1989, with Boris Becker favoured over Lendl, 2013 with Novak Djokovic favoured over Rafael Nadal, 2022 with Nadal favoured over Carlos Alcaraz, and 2025 with Jannik Sinner favoured over Alcaraz.[21]
Fecci, Vicki (6 January 2010). "Memorandum, Articles of Association and Bye-laws of ITF LIMITED; Trading as the International Tennis Federation" (PDF). Nassau, Bahamas: ITF. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 January 2012. Retrieved 20 December 2013.
Footnotes
^ a bITF Constitution, p.26, Rule 2.2(a)(iii)
^"ITF opt for Hewitt and Capriati". BBC Online. 2 December 2001. Retrieved 20 December 2013.
^ITF Constitution, p.53 Appendix E
^"Rafael Nadal, Garbine Muguruza win ITF Player of the Year awards". ESPN.com. 2017-12-08. Retrieved 2018-12-14.
^ITF Constitution, p.29: Article 29(a)
^ITF Constitution, p.38 Regulation 3.1
^ITF Constitution, Appendix E, pp.53, 60
^"ITF Tennis - WHEELCHAIR - Articles - ITF to honour quad wheelchair world champions". www.itftennis.com. Archived from the original on 2017-12-13.
^Gillen, Nancy (1 April 2020). "Santana and Stolle receive ITF Philippe Chatrier Award". Inside the Games. Retrieved 15 July 2020.
^"World Champions Dinner". ITF. 2013. Archived from the original on 16 August 2013. Retrieved 20 December 2013.
^"ITF celebrates 2019 World Champions". www.itftennis.com. Retrieved 29 May 2021.
^ a bJoe Jares (February 13, 1978). "Champion by committee". Sports Illustrated. Vol. 48, no. 8. p. 11.
^"Wind, Herbert Warren (15 February 1978). "The Sports Scene: Budge and the Grand Slam". The New Yorker. Vol. 63. p. 76.
^UPI (17 January 1984). "McEnroe tapped as world's best". The Bulletin. Bend, Oregon. p. D-1. Retrieved 20 December 2013.
^"McEnroe crowned World Champ by tennis panel". Gainesville Sun. 17 January 1985. p. 3E. Retrieved 20 December 2013.
^ a bFogarty, Mark (21 January 1986). "All the awards, plus a rebuke". The Age. p. 48. Retrieved 20 December 2013.
^"It's official: Lendl best in world". Boca Raton News. 11 December 1986. p. 4D. Retrieved 20 December 2013.
^ a b"Lendl, not Edberg, named tennis world champion". Moscow-Pullman Daily News. Associated Press. 18 December 1990. p. 1C. Retrieved 20 December 2013.
^ a bTennis (in French) (179). France. February 1991. On' a choisi de sanctionner un champion qui n'avait pas craint d'avouer publiquement le peu d'importance qu'il accordait à la Coupe du Grand Chelem, la fameuse invention de la FIT pour 'casser' l'ATP Tour. (It was decided to punish a champion who was not afraid to admit publicly how little he thought of the Grand Slam Cup, the famous ITF invention to 'break' the ATP Tour){{cite journal}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
^"Announced: 2025 ITF World Champions presented by UNIQLO". www.itftennis.com. Retrieved 2025-12-17.
^Ron Rosen (January 17, 1978). "Fie to Computers, Let People Decide". Washington Post.
^Flink, Steve (30 September 2003). "Obituaries: Althea Gibson". The Independent. Retrieved 20 December 2013.
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