ITF Press Release, May 24, 2021

Ahead of Roland Garros, the time in the tennis season when the ITF traditionally honours its World Champions, the ITF is celebrating the 2019 ITF World Champions and 2020 ITF Philippe Chatrier Award winners in two videos.

The ITF was unable to present its World Champions and Philippe Chatrier Award winners with their trophies last year due to pandemic restrictions. And with the annual ITF World Champions Awards Dinner in Paris still not possible in 2021, the ITF has filmed presentations to the winners around the world and will celebrate their achievements in two videos released on Monday 24 and Tuesday 25 May. Additionally, the ITF World Champions video will also celebrate the successes of the top players to emerge from 2020.

Australia’s Ashleigh Barty and Rafael Nadal of Spain are among the eleven players honoured in the virtual ITF World Champions Awards Manolo Santana and Fred Stolle are presented with the ITF Philippe Chatrier Award – the ITF’s highest honour – in recognition of their outstanding contributions to the sport both on and off the court.

ITF President, David Haggerty said “It is indicative of the times that the 2019 ITF World Champions trophies are being presented in 2021 and all around the world, instead of at the annual ITF World Champions Awards Dinner. Due to the disruption to the tennis calendar in 2020, we decided not to name ITF World Champions for 2020 so we are delighted to have the opportunity to acknowledge the top-ranked players in an extraordinary season.”

The ITF’s selection of its senior World Champions is based on an objective system that considers all results during the year, giving special weight to Grand Slam tournaments and two international team competitions Davis Cup by Rakuten and Billie Jean King Cup by BNP Paribas. The ITF Wheelchair World Champions and ITF Junior World Champions recognise the year-end No.1 in the ITF world rankings.