A historic year for Asia: 2024 ITF World Tennis Tour Masters
2024 was a historic year on the ITF World Tennis Tour Masters for Asia. The 45 World Team & Individual Championships took place in Tokyo, Japan, marking the first time the ITF Masters World Championships has been held in Asia.
M50+ India became only the second team from Asia to reach the finals of the World Team Championships in the 66-year history of the competition (after M70+ Japan in 2004) at the 50-60 World Championships in Mexico City, Mexico. M45+ Japan matched this historic feat later in the year, losing narrowly to Spain in the final on home soil.
The 45 World Team Championships also saw a record number of entries from Asia, including teams from Philippines, China, Korea, and Japan.
Min Lui became the first player from China to win an Individuals title at the 30-40 World Championships in Lisbon, Portugal. In Tokyo, the Japanese pair of Aiko Ema and Asuka Hashimoto became only the second doubles gold medallists from Japan, winning the 45+ Women’s Doubles (following Emiko Saito and Chizuko Shigemitsu, who won the 90+ Women’s Doubles in 2023).
On the ITF World Tennis Tour Masters, 2024 saw a record 89 tournaments take place in a record 13 host nations from Asia in 2024. This included Bangladesh, Brunei, and Saudi Arabia, who were nations new to the Tour, and Korea (2019), Pakistan (2019), and UAE (2013), who returned to the Tour after absences. The growth of the Masters Tour in Asia over the last 10 years has been astronomical: Asia hosted only 15 ITF Masters tournaments across 8 nations in 2014.
The ITF Masters department is actively working alongside the Asian Tennis Federation, National Associations, and tournament organisers to continue to grow Masters tennis in Asia. This is in line with the ITF Masters Tour’s strategy for 2023-2026, which emphasises the growth of tournaments and player participation, with a particular focus on Asia.
According to the ITF’s recent Global Tennis Report (2024), Asia is the biggest continent in the world for numbers of players, with 35.3 million, representing 33.4% of the world’s tennis-playing population.
2024 was not only a historic year for Asia but also for the ITF World Tennis Tour Masters, with a record 586 tournaments taking place across 72 nations in 2024 (up from 552 in 68 nations in 2023).
A record 41,378 players* were active on the ITF World Tennis Tour Masters in 2024 (up from 38,209 in 2023).
Belgium’s Patrick Daufresne led the Tour for most men’s titles, with 8 singles and 7 doubles titles to his name in 2024. His combined total of 15 titles was matched by USA’s Carolyn Nichols who won the most women’s titles. France’s Marc Renoult won the most singles titles in 2024. The pinnacle of his 10 titles was the 70+ World Individuals title at the 65-90 World Championships in Antalya, Türkiye.
Australia’s Glenn Busby, who won the Team and Individual event in the 65+ category in Antalya, matched Renoult’s Tour-leading total of 4,600 singles ranking points.
Germany’s Manon Kruse, who won singles, doubles, and mixed doubles in the 40+ category at the World Individual Championships in Lisbon also achieved 4,600 points. Kruse pipped USA’s Julie Thu, who won the 45+ singles title in Tokyo and accumulated 4,550 points, for the most singles ranking points won by a female player in 2024.
Another notable storyline in 2024 was former Uruguayan footballer Diego Forlan, whose performances on the Masters Tour caught the attention of the world’s media and culminated in him being awarded a Wild Card into an ATP Challenger tournament. His highlight on the ITF World Tennis Tour Masters was winning the Men’s Doubles 45+ event at the MT1000 Lima alongside his compatriot Alberto Brause.
2025 promises to be another significant year for Asia. The 2025 World Masters Games will be held in Taipei and New Taipei City from 18-25 May 2025. An MT700 event will form part of the multi-sport World Masters Games and run alongside an existing recreational event.
In addition to this exciting event, the Masters World Championships will be held again across four venues in 2025: Türkiye, Portugal, USA, and Croatia.
To view the 2025 ITF Masters Calendar, click here.
To enter tournaments through IPIN, click here.
*This figure is accurate as of 23 December 2024. There are still ITF World Tennis Tour Masters tournaments happening in 2024.