ITF Future Tour

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
ITF logo

The ITF Future Tour (also called ITF Men's Circuit ; since 2019 ITF Men's World Tennis Tour ) is a tennis tournament series for men organized by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) as part of the ITF Pro Circuit . Below the tournaments of the ATP World Tour and the ATP Challenger Tour , the Future Tour competitions are the lowest category in professional tennis.

history

In 1976, three smaller tournament series were held in Europe and North America for the first time to give promising young talents the opportunity to gain experience in professional tennis apart from the major tournaments. These circuits consisted of at least five tournaments and together guaranteed $ 45,000 in prize money. Later ATP players like Tim Gullikson ( Wimbledon finalist 1983), Brian Teacher (winner of the Australian Open 1980 ) or Steve Denton (winner of the US Open 1982 in doubles) took part in the first tournaments in North America. In Europe, Peter McNamara (Wimbledon winner in doubles in 1980 and 1982, Australian Open winner in doubles in 1979) won the first edition of the circuit.

Between 1990 and 2006 the tournaments were held under the Satellite Circuit label . In 1997 the series consisted of 109 tournaments with a total prize pool of $ 3.15 million.

In 1998 the actual future tournaments were introduced, which gradually replaced the satellites . In order to be included in the tournament calendar, the tournaments had to be scheduled at least twice in a row with prize money of 15,000 US dollars each or three times in a row with 10,000 US dollars each. The first future tournament was played in India in 1998, with Vadim Kutsenko winning .

In 2010 the Future Tour consisted of 534 tournaments, the most successful player was the Italian Claudio Grassi with 12 titles (3 in singles, 9 in doubles) ahead of the Argentine Andrés Molteni with 11 (5 singles, 6 doubles) and the German Sebastian Rieschick with 10 titles (5 singles, 5 doubles). The most successful single player was the French Augustin Gensse with 7 titles, Claudio Grassi was the most successful double player of the tour with 9 titles. France was the nation with the most titles (50) ahead of Spain (37) and Argentina (33). German players won 18 titles. The Future Tour 2011 also consisted of 534 tournaments. 15 of them took place in Germany, eight in Austria, two in Switzerland and one in Liechtenstein.

In 2018 the ITF decided to fundamentally change the point system of the futures. From 2019, points gained in futures will be listed in a separate ITF ranking. In 2019, as a transition in the tournaments with a $ 25,000 prize money, points for the ATP rankings will still be available from the semi-finals. The basic idea behind this is that success at a lower level is rewarded with the opportunity to play at a higher level. Five youth players from the top 100 juniors get a place in the field at 15,000 tournaments. The best of the ITF rankings get a place among the 25,000ers. In the 48 field at Challengers, the four best-placed players in the ITF rankings get a place in the individual and three more in the qualification.

Allocation of world ranking points

Participants could collect the following points for success on the Future Tour. In doubles, the players only receive world ranking points from the semi-finals. Tournaments marked with + H accommodate the players themselves. From 2019, an ITF ranking was introduced parallel to the ATP ranking, in which results from futures are only added to the ITF ranking. Only in 2019 will the higher rounds of only the 25,000 tournaments still be awarded ATP points. In the table, these are each provided with a bracket. In doubles, points are awarded from the quarterfinals. In addition, players in the Challenger categories 80–110 receive 30 ITF points if they successfully qualify and 12 if they lose in the last qualifying round.

Until 2018
Tournament category S. F. HF VF AF R32
ITF $ 25,000 + H. 35 20th 10 4th 1 0
ITF $ 25,000
ITF $ 15,000 + H 		27 15th 8th 3 1 0
ITF $ 15,000 18th 10 6th 2 1 0
From 2019
Tournament category S. F. HF VF AF R32 Qfkt Q final
ITF $ 25,000 + H. 225 (5) 135 (3) 67 (1) 27 9 0 4th 1
ITF $ 25,000
ITF $ 15,000 + H 		150 (3) 90 (1) 45 18th 6th 0 3 1
ITF $ 15,000 100 60 30th 12 4th 0 2 1

Eligibility to participate

Every player who registers with the tournament management is entitled to participate - even players who are not listed in any ranking. The tournaments are therefore often associated with high numbers of participants. Usually you have to play a qualification in order to reach the main field and collect points for the world rankings. A player is allowed to register for a maximum of 6 tournaments per week and has to commit himself to a priority list.

See also

Web links