Asian Tennis Federation


The Asian Tennis Federation is a non-profit organization affiliated with the International Tennis Federation. It is a continental body of national tennis associations of Asian countries. The ATF's main objectives are to raise the quality standard of Asian tennis and to popularize tennis sport among the peoples of Asia. There are currently 44 member associations who represents their respective nations. The ATF works closely with the International Tennis Federation and supports its member associations through the implementation of a wide range of programs.

Board of directors

The board of directors is the elected group of members from national tennis bodies of Asian nations, the current list of members is:-
NameDesignation
Anil Kumar KhannaPresident
Sheikh Ahmad Al–Jaber Al SabahHonorary Chairman
Martina WidjajaVice President
Syed Dilawar AbbasVice President
Sun Jin-fangVice-President
Suwat LiptapanlopVice-President
Nasser Al-KhelaifiVice-President
Shomurad ShofayzievVice President
Surendran SubramaniamHonorary Secretary General
Ishtiaq AhmedMember
Ajay PathakMember
Alizera KhorooshiMember
Naohiro KawateiMember
Adil BurlibayevMember

Challenges

Asia is by far the most populous continent but tennis still remains a sport under development. Besides a couple of Asian nations like India, China and Japan who have produced some world class players, tennis does not have a very long and fruitful history. The only Asian to ever win a single tennis grand slam is Chinese women Li Na, who won both the woman’s French Open 2011 and Australian Open 2014, with over 100 million people watching in China. She grew up playing badminton and only switched over to tennis because a coach saw her potential for the sport. But the backward Chinese tennis coaching she received in her early days actually turned her against the game and she eventually quit for two years only to come back when China tennis authorities allowed her to take the reins and hire a coach to her liking without regards of the costs. After Li Na had won the two grandslam tournaments, everyone start to know tennis in China. Especially in a country like China interest in the tennis sport is very much at the lead level compared to other Asian countries. If you weren't a lead level player, maybe you are wasting your time, taking away from study or education. But we've really seen in the last couple of years that mindset changing, in China in particular, Ben Slack, Tennis Australia's head of international business.
The Women's Tennis Association announced in 2017 that it has signed a 10-year deal to move its finals tournament to Shenzhen, a dynamic city in China south, starting from next year. The deal will also see the total prize money on offer double to a whopping US$14 million.
Tennis is expensive and most Asian countries are still a developing economy, which means the standard of living is comparatively less and people spend their money on necessities rather than tennis racquets. There are currently 289 futures and challengers in a year in Europe, while Asia in comparison only has 61 of these tournaments. Even South America has 81, where there are only ten states and where players from the other continents rarely go due to remoteness. The number of tournaments in Asia is increasing and with it the level of the sport. In the next 10 years, the Asian region, should produce some exciting players.

Sponsors of ATF

This is a list of official sponsors of ATF: