ITF launches Seniors World Team Rankings

Written by: Staff on 17th December 2010

ITF launches Seniors World Team Rankings |

The ITF today announced the launch of the ITF Seniors World Team Rankings, a new ranking system designed to measure nations’ performances in the annual ITF Seniors and Super-Seniors World Team Championships.

The ITF Seniors and Super-Seniors World Team Championships are the flagship competitions of the ITF Seniors Circuit, with events held in a total of 19 age categories. Men compete in the 35-and-over to 80-and-over age groups, while women contest the 35-and-over to 75-and-over age categories. In 2010, 277 teams from 34 countries took part in the ITF championships.

The ITF Seniors World Team Rankings will include a separate ranking for each of the 19 age categories. Adopting a similar system to the Davis Cup and Fed Cup Nations Ranking, the rankings will measure the success of all nations in each event over a five-year period with recent performance weighted more heavily. In addition to the points awarded for each victory, bonus points will be awarded from 2011 onwards to any country that defeats a higher-ranked nation.

ITF President Francesco Ricci Bitti said: “The ITF Seniors World Team Rankings are designed to give recognition to all ITF member nations that select national teams to participate in the ITF Seniors and Super-Seniors World Team Championships. For the first time in the history of seniors tennis, nations will be able to assess their results and achievements over a five-year period as an objective ranking.”

Luca Santilli, ITF Head of Juniors and Seniors Tennis, said: “We look forward to the nations’ feedback on this exciting new initiative, with the ultimate aim of using the rankings as the main criteria for seeding at the ITF Seniors and Super-Seniors World Team Championships.”

The inaugural rankings, as at 1 December 2010, see USA holding the No. 1 ranking in 11 age categories, followed by France, who hold five No. 1 positions. The current rankings for each age category and the rankings explanation can be viewed on the ITF seniors tennis website: www.itftennis.com/seniors

New rankings will be published following every staging of the ITF Seniors or Super-Seniors World Team Championships. In 2011, the Seniors Team Championships will be staged in Christchurch, New Zealand on 21-26 February, while the Super-Seniors Team Championships will take place in Antalya, Turkey on 10-15 October.

Topics: Age Categories, Age Category, Age Groups, Aim, Bonus Points, Competitions, Current Rankings, Davis Cup, Fed Cup, Francesco Ricci Bitti, Initiative, Itf, Juniors, Launch, Luca, Member Nations, Seniors, Tennis, Victory