The association of tennis players was established on 1972 exclusively for the protection of the interest of the male tennis players. In 1990 this association arranged a major worldwide event, which later came to be known as the famous ATP tournaments.
At present ATP organizes five types of tournaments all over the world. These are:
1. Tennis Masters Cup(jointly with ITF)
2. ATP Masters Cup
3. ATP International Series Gold
4. ATP International series
5. ATP Challenger Series
The International Tennis Federation (ITF)
The international tennis federation is the highest body of world tennis. It has 202 tennis associations as its members. It was formed on 13th march 1913. In 1924 it became the official body of tennis. Previously it was known as the International lawn tennis federation. The word `lawn` was dropped on 1977 as not all tennis tournaments were played on grass. The main office of ITF is in London.
The main function of ITF is to arrange the four Grand Slams-Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon And U.S Open. Apart from that ITF is also responsible for arranging three national team events like Davis cup for men Fed cup for women and Hopman cup for mixed teams. It also plays some pivotal roles for the development of young players and act as a parent body of smaller organizations.
The Women Tennis Association (WTA)
The women tennis association came into being on 23rd September 1970.WTA is like ATP for the main tennis. Bille Jean King is the main man behind formation of this organization. It arranges WTA tours all over the world. It is divided into three parts.
1.The four Grandslams 2 Season ending championship 3 Tier tournaments.
The organization publishes a weekly ranking of the players. The points are counted on the basis of how they perform on an individual round of tournaments.
All India Tennis Association
It is the main governing body of Indian tennis. The head quarter of this body is at R.K.Khanna stadium in New Delhi. It was established on 1920 at Lahore. The first president was Samuel Perry O`Donnell, an Indian civil Service officer. Almost all-state tennis associations in India are under the surveillance of this association. It has been playing crucial role in spreading quality tennis over the country.
