The ITF and the national associations that constitute it govern tennis worldwide; they oversee international competitions such as the Davis Cup and Billie Jean King Cup and tennis in the Olympic Games, which was restored to medal-sport status for the 1988 Gamesâthe first time since 1924. The professional circuits were governed from the late 1970s by the Menâs and Womenâs International Professional Tennis councils. These groups, made up of representatives of the ITF, players, and tournaments, oversee the international calendar, the implementation of rules and codes of conduct, and the training and supervision of tour officials. The councils work closely with the ATP and WTA, which supply a number of services and benefits to players and tournaments and maintain rankings that provide the basis for entry into tournaments and seedings.
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Until 1974, when South Africa won by default over India, only four nations had won the Davis Cup: Australia, Great Britain, France, and the United States. The championships of those four countries are the traditional âmajorâ tournaments that make up the Grand Slam. Wimbledon in Britain is the oldest, having been played on the lawns of the All England Club since 1877. The French championships, played at Stade Roland-Garros in Auteuil, on the outskirts of Paris, are recognized as the worldâs premier clay-court tournaments. The U.S. championships were played on grass from their inception in 1881 through 1974; the next three years they were played on a synthetic clay surface at the West Side Tennis Club in Forest Hills, New York, and in 1978 the tournament moved to the rubberized asphalt courts of the USTA National Tennis Center in nearby Flushing Meadow Park. The Australian Championships were played on grass in several cities until 1968, when they moved to Melbourne; in 1988 they moved within that city to the synthetic courts of the new Australian National Tennis Centre.
The principal team events are the menâs Davis Cup and the womenâs Billie Jean King Cup. The Davis Cup series has been held since 1900, and the Billie Jean King Cup, originally called the Federation Cup and later the Fed Cup, was inaugurated in 1963. A more recent addition, the Laver Cup, was started in 2017 and pits a menâs team from Europe against a team composed of non-European players. The Wightman Cup, which was held from 1923 to 1989, was contested between American and British women and alternated between U.S. and British sites.