Players feedback about Bengaluru event is incredibly positive: Moss

Bengaluru: With nearly 1,200 tournaments - two categories for men and five for women - organised around the world throughout the year, the International Tennis Federation (ITF), the world governing body for the game, calls itself the 'Guardian of the Game'. 

At the helm of this rapidly evolving organisation and its operations in a global sport is Andrew Moss, Executive Director of ITF's World Tennis Tour. Moss is in the city, where the main draw fixtures of the third edition of the KPB Trust ITF Women’s Open W100 kick off from Wednesday, and the Briton dwelled into details of managing the demands of tennis, its players, conducting events and more in a chat with a select media.  Excerpts.

How has the ITF W100 in Bengaluru grown over the years?

What I'm particularly delighted about is that when this tournament started a couple of years ago (in 2021) it was a W50 event with $40,000 total cash prize and 50 ranking points for the winner. But now, for the last two years, this year included, it's a W100, 100 points for the winner, $100,000 in prize money, and it makes a massive difference.

The feedback from the players is incredibly positive. The services that are put on for the them here, high standard of hospitality in the local hotels, the fact that the facilities here at the Cubbon Park, the courts and how they're maintained, the players are extremely happy.

Do you have plans of taking such top-tier ITF events outside Bengaluru? What are the cities/ towns that you are looking at? 

Having hosted ITF events in Mysuru and Kalaburgi in the past, we know there is real interest and passion for tennis in these cities. The facilities to support a good tournament are conducive too.The previous men’s event in Kalaburgi, for example, had over 1,500 spectators for the final match. So for sure, the details can be worked out in collaboration with AITA and KSLTA and look at how we can further expand such possibilities. 

If you look at the ITF calendar, last year alone, India hosted around 11 tournaments for men and around 10 for women. So, for such a big country, what would be the ideal number of tournaments it should be conducting?

Double the number of tournaments, I think that would be a great interim goal. Because I think there's clearly the availability of venues, there's clearly the demand from the players. And I think working collaboratively with all stakeholders, I think there's clearly the means to deliver that. I think there's room for growth in India, no question.

How do you manage an ever-expanding calendar? 

Historically, Europe has half the number of tournaments on the calendar. But there are gaps where Europe doesn't host. That's a particularly good time for other regions of the world to host, but I don't think that should be restrictive. It's an incredibly complex job because we're always trying to work with national associations and tournament organisers on the best approach, whilst also making sure that we create logical, coherent swings for players.

There are 75 countries that host World Tennis Tour tournaments, and there are different priorities that different countries have for their players. It's no use having one event here and then nothing. It's a complex task because of the number of countries involved, and it's always a work in progress, but I think we've made significant progress over the last four to five years in particular.

Our view, also, is that there should be more women's tournaments. So our job, it's very interesting as we always want to keep on pushing to make sure that women can get those opportunities at the right level. 

How would you describe the relationship between ITF and its players? 

This is one part of the reason why I'm here. It's incredibly important for us to get feedback from players and coaches, and the best time to do that is obviously visiting tournaments where you can have extended conversations. We have two player panels - player councils for men and women who play on the tour - which started in 2020. The panel online meetings are held five or six times a year, according to demand.

Without that player feedback, it would be a much more difficult and blind task to manage the tour. Player input is incredibly valuable because, in the end, the tour is for the players.

What are the ITF’s plans for the next five years? 

ITF professional tournaments are present in 75 countries and ITF junior tournaments take place in about 130 countries. Bridging this gap is where our growth lies. Our mission is to develop tennis for future generations, but that has to be everywhere. And so, even if it's just an entry level tournament, such as the M15, W15.. I think that's extremely important because it gives players who have had that competitive experience in a particular country, an opportunity to take their careers to the next level.