Function
The ITF operates the three major national team competitions in the sport, the Davis Cup for men, the Fed Cup for women and the Hopman Cup, mixed teams. The ITF sanctions the four Grand Slams: the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open.
While the ATP Tour and WTA Tour control most other high-level professional tournaments, the ITF runs developmental professional tours for men and women. The ITF Men's Circuit, consists of Futures tournaments with prize funds of USD 10,000 or USD 15,000. Medium level men's tournaments are run by the ATP through the ATP Challenger Tour. The ITF previously also ran four-week satellite tournaments of roughly the same quality level as Futures tournaments, but they were discontinued after the 2006 season. The ITF Women's Circuit incorporates both lower and mid-level tournaments, with prize funds ranging from USD 10,000 to USD 100,000. Virtually every ATP and WTA player started by playing on the ITF circuits.
The ITF is responsible for maintaining an international under-18 junior circuit for boys and girls, as well as a wheelchair tennis circuit.
Read more about this topic: International Tennis Federation
Famous quotes containing the word function:
“For me being a poet is a job rather than an activity. I feel I have a function in society, neither more nor less meaningful than any other simple job. I feel it is part of my work to make poetry more accessible to people who have had their rights withdrawn from them.”
—Jeni Couzyn (b. 1942)
“If the children and youth of a nation are afforded opportunity to develop their capacities to the fullest, if they are given the knowledge to understand the world and the wisdom to change it, then the prospects for the future are bright. In contrast, a society which neglects its children, however well it may function in other respects, risks eventual disorganization and demise.”
—Urie Bronfenbrenner (b. 1917)
“The fact remains that the human being in early childhood learns to consider one or the other aspect of bodily function as evil, shameful, or unsafe. There is not a culture which does not use a combination of these devils to develop, by way of counterpoint, its own style of faith, pride, certainty, and initiative.”
—Erik H. Erikson (1904–1994)