The International Tennis Federation will be under the control of David Haggerty for at least the next four years after he secured a resounding win in the presidential election on Friday.
Haggerty, who has been the head of the organisation since 2015, was reappointed after winning 60.5% of votes during the first round of voting in Lisbon, Portugal. Under ITF rules, candidates need to secure a minimum of 50% in order to be appointed president. The details of which countries voted for or against Haggerty are anonymous. Although both the UK and America have confirmed their support. Two of the five countries that have 12 votes each.
The American faced opposition from three other candidates. One of which was Ireland’s Dave Miley, who has been a vocal critic of Haggerty’s reign. He has previously outlined his campaign during an interview with Ubitennis. Miley managed to get just 46 votes (10.8%) and finished in third position. Ahead of him was India’s Anil Khanna (93 votes). Meanwhile, Czech Republic’s Ivo Kaderka was the worst performing of the candidates with only 7% support.
“I appreciate your support,” Haggerty said following the results.
“I would also like to congratulate Anil, Ivo and David for their hard work in the election.
“Thank you very much.”
During his first tenure as ITF president, Haggerty has been the driving force behind the revamp of the Davis Cup. This November will be the first time in history where the finals will feature 18 teams playing over a week in a round-robin format. Similar to that of the football world cup. Similar changes are set to be made to the Fed Cup next year. Unlike the Davis Cup, the Fed Cup changes will be made without an official ITF vote taking place.
There has also been controversy with the implementation and subsequent removal of the ITF Transition Tour. A petition was launched by players over the tour after many complained that they were worse off. The tour saw the introduction of a separate ranking system and a reduction in the number of places for qualifying events. Both of which have now been scrapped.
In his 2019 manifesto, Haggerty has pledged to review the governance of the organisation. An issue that has also been previously raised by one of his backers, the British Lawn Tennis Association (LTA). He has also pledged to increase worldwide development funding by 50% per year. Raising the amount from $12 million to $18 million.
Haggerty will remain in his role until at least 2023.
