It was based at Wimbledon until 1987, when it moved to Barons Court, next door to Queen's Club. Its funds were moved to London, England during World War II and from that time onward the ITF has been run from there.
In 1924, the ILTF became the officially recognised organisation with authority to control lawn tennis throughout the world, with official ILTF Rules of Tennis. The World Championships were replaced by a new category of Official Championships for the main tournaments in Australia, France, England and the United States now known as the four Majors or Grand Slam events. The USLTA joined in 1923 on the basis of two compromises: the title 'World Championships' would be abolished and wording would be 'for ever in the English language'. France received permission to stage the World Hard Court Championships until 1916 and additionally a World Covered Court Championships was founded. The LTA was given the perpetual right to organize the World Grass Championships which led to a refusal by the United States Lawn Tennis Association (USLTA) to join the ILTF as they were of the opinion that this title should be given to the Davis Cup. Voting rights were divided based on the perceived importance of the individual countries with Great Britain's Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) receiving the maximum six votes. Three other countries could not attend but had requested to become a member. Originally called the International Lawn Tennis Federation (ILTF) it held its inaugural conference at the headquarters of the Union des Sociétés Françaises de Sports Athlétiques (USFSA), in Paris, France on 1 March 1913 which was attended by 12 national associations. He died in the sinking of the RMS Titanic. 9 Fine of the Israel Tennis Associationĭuane Williams, an American who lived in Switzerland, is generally recognized as the initiator and driving force behind the foundation of the International Tennis Federation.8 Fine of the Tunisian Tennis Federation.In addition to these circuits, the ITF also maintains rankings for juniors, seniors, wheelchair and beach tennis.
The ITF sanctions the Grand Slam tennis tournaments as well as circuits which span age ranges ( junior, professional men and women, and seniors) as well as disciplines ( wheelchair tennis beach tennis). The ITF organizes the Grand Slam events, annual team competitions for men ( Davis Cup), women ( Billie Jean King Cup), and mixed teams ( Hopman Cup), as well as tennis and wheelchair tennis events at the Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games on behalf of the International Olympic Committee. The ITF partners with the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) and the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) to govern professional tennis. The ITF's governance responsibilities include maintaining and enforcing the rules of tennis, regulating international team competitions, promoting the game, and preserving the sport's integrity via anti-doping and anti-corruption programs. As of 2016, there are 211 national and six regional associations that make up ITF's membership. It was founded in 1913 as the International Lawn Tennis Federation by twelve national tennis associations. The International Tennis Federation ( ITF) is the governing body of world tennis, wheelchair tennis, and beach tennis.