ITF Press Release, August 15, 2024
The International Tennis Federation (ITF) has announced a significant investment into the ITF World Tennis Tour – the main artery to the top level of professional tennis – which will, from 2025, see increases in prize money for both men and women, and the provision of more complimentary hospitality for women players.
A record total of $35.3m will be on offer in 2025 where over 1,100 tournaments will be played across the world. This is a 20% increase on the $29.4m total available in 2024.
Against a global backdrop of price rises, the increases are designed to help ease the challenging financial conditions experienced by many players, by increasing their earning capacity and, for women, reducing hotel costs – a key part of a player’s budget.
There are five tournament levels on the women’s ITF World Tennis Tour: W15 and W35 (entry level); W50, W75 and W100 (equivalent to ATP Challenger level). In 2025, there will be $20.7m total prize money available – a record total for the fourth consecutive year.
The 2025 structure will see a number of other enhancements to women’s events, which further narrow the gap between equivalent women’s and men’s tournaments.. These include:
– Mandatory hospitality at all W50 and W75 events to join the existing requirement at W100 tournaments (a total of 28,000 free nights’ accommodation to be provided for women, up from 5,000 nights in 2024)
– W50 and W75 tournaments will provide a minimum of 3 nights’ accommodation for singles Main Draw players (4 nights at W100 level) as well as a minimum of 2 night’s accommodation for doubles players.
– Increase in prize money at W75 level tournaments from $60,000 to $70,000
These enhancements build on an increase in recent years in the number of tournaments at the W50, W75, W100 level: from 76 in 2019 to over 150 in 2024.
There are two tournament levels on the men’s ITF World Tennis Tour – M15 and M25 (entry level). In 2025, there will be $14.6m total prize money available – a record total for the third consecutive year.
Prize money at the four entry level men’s and women’s World Tennis Tour tournaments will increase from $15,000 to $20,000, and $25,000 to $30,000. This will add $5m of prize money into the game at entry level and represents a 26% increase on 2024.
In addition, the number of World Tennis Tour matches that will be live streamed will increase to over 22,000, including every match at M25, W50, W75 and W100 level events.
David Haggerty, ITF President, said: “The ITF World Tennis Tour is a key part of the tennis eco-system, and is the recognised pathway to the top level of the game. Today’s announcement is further evidence of the ITF’s continued commitment to deliver better prize money, higher standards and sustainable scheduling which make the tour a fair and inclusive environment for female and male players to fulfil their potential.
“Crucially, another year of enhanced hospitality and accommodation for women and a fourth consecutive year of record prize money reflects our commitment to achieving gender parity at all levels. The progress we have seen on the ITF World Tennis Tour in recent years is continuing at great pace, and we are excited for the future.”
Portia Archer, WTA CEO, said: “This is welcome news, and we applaud the ITF for its commitment to increasing prize money and playing opportunities for women on the World Tennis Tour, as well as implementing mandatory hospitality for more women’s events on the ITF Tour. These improvements move the sport forward in its efforts to create equal opportunity for all players, which is what we are all striving to achieve.”
Sofia Shapatava, a player member of the ITF World Tennis Tour women’s panel, said: “As a panel member, I am delighted to see the prize money and hospitality improvements to the World Tennis Tour announced today. These will help more women to legitimately see professional tennis as a career. I look forward to working with my fellow panel members and the ITF to continue to improve our tour.”
Courtney Lock, a player member of the ITF World Tennis Tour men’s panel, said: “The prize money increases announced today are a really important step towards helping players in the pathway of professional tennis. The player panel has collaborated with the ITF on this topic regularly and we are really happy to see these changes coming through. The prize money increase and commitment to player welfare improvement will go a long way. Looking at the feedback received and the changes that have been made since I joined the panel, it’s an exciting time for tennis.”
