The International Tennis Federation (ITF) has done a stupendous job towards the development of the sport around the world this year, conducting 1135 professional tournaments in 73 countries, catering to about 10,600 players.
The ITF posted the details on its website, mentioning that the year had 571 men’s and 564 women’s events.
Women players got a better deal from ITF in terms of prize money, as the tournaments offered about $17.5 million. The men played for a total prize purse of $11.2 million.
The women’s prize money was higher as the ITF tried to match the men’s Challenger tournaments, organised by ATP.
The higher prize money ITF tournaments for women, ranging from $40,000 to $125,000, were 189, only marginally less than the 196 Challenger events of the year for men.
The ITF only conducts developmental events for men and women. The big purse events for men and women are conducted by the ATP and WTA respectively.
