ITF and ITA announce women's College Accelerator Programme

The ITF is excited to announce the College Accelerator Programme, a new US College pathway into the ITF World Tennis Tour (WTT) Women's, created in collaboration with the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) and the WTA. This continues the ITF’s commitment to expanding the pathways available for talented players to enter into professional tennis.  

Beginning in September 2023, the programme offers up to five main draw places into WTT events for women who were Top 5 in the end-of-year NCAA Division I rankings from May 31st 2023, and for those who were finalists at the NCAA Championships.  

In the first group are: Fiona Crawley (UNC Chapel Hill), Mary Stoiana (Texas A&M University), Lea Ma (University of Georgia), Diana Shnaider (North Carolina State University), and Maddy Sieg (University of Southern California). Fangran Tian (UCLA) and Layne Sleeth (University of Oklahoma) also qualify for the programme as winner and finalist respectively of 2023 the NCAA Division I Singles Championships.  

Crawley, the NCAA Division I No. 1 player, but without a WTA ranking as recently as April 2023, received a wildcard into the US Open women’s singles qualifying draw from the USTA. She seized that chance to defeat Reka Luca Jani, former world No. 25 Timea Babos, and the No. 13 seed in qualifying Kimberly Birrell, reaching the US Open main draw to make her Grand Slam main draw debut; and is currently ranked WTA 552.  

Players returning to College in the autumn receive three main draw places to be used before the end of 2023, while those who have left College, receive five main draw places to be used before the end of June 2024. Players can choose places at one W60 tournament, up to two W40 tournaments and up to two W25 tournaments. 

ITF’s College Accelerator Programme follows a similar College Accelerator men’s programme, launched by the ATP in collaboration with the ITA in July 2023, that gives similar opportunities to college players for ATP Challenger tournaments.  

David Haggerty, ITF President, and former college tennis player for George Washington University said: “Having played college tennis, I fully understand what a wonderful development opportunity this is for college players with the talent, determination, and ambition to rise to the top of the game. The ITF continues to strengthen the professional pathway, and we’re delighted to work with the ITA.” 

Timothy Russell, Chief Executive Officer of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association said: “As I commented at the time of the ATP announcement, college tennis is the connective tissue in the global tennis eco-system, an aspirational goal for junior tennis players around the world and a proven educational environment and competitive high-performance arena in preparation for success in life, including as a career as a top professional tennis player.  

“As an innovative leader in the world of American intercollegiate athletics, the ITA is honoured to partner with the ITF and WTA in providing this new coordinated and motivational pathway to talented and dedicated college players. We are most grateful to our partners at the ITF and WTA for their work in making these opportunities possible.”