Federer, del Potro, Kuznetsova Lead Corridor of Fame Nominees for Class of 2026

The Participant Class acknowledges ATP and WTA gamers who’ve achieved a distinguished file of aggressive achievement on the highest worldwide stage:

Roger Federer is one in every of solely eight males in tennis historical past to realize a profession Grand Slam in singles. He captured his first main title at age 21 at Wimbledon in 2003, happening to develop into the primary male participant in tennis historical past to win 20 main singles titles. Federer then ascended to the world No. 1 rating for a file 237 consecutive weeks, in the end holding that spot for 310 whole weeks by means of his profession. He completed his profession with 103 singles titles, second most within the Open Period, and was voted to obtain the ATP’s Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship Award 13 instances. Moreover, Federer was the ATP Fan Favourite for a file 19 consecutive years, from 2003 to 2021. Representing Switzerland, Federer led his nation to the Davis Cup title in 2014 and captured Olympic gold in doubles alongside Stan Wawrinka on the 2008 Beijing Video games. As a part of Crew Europe, Federer captured three-straight Laver Cup titles from 2017 by means of 2019.

Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina is the 2009 US Open males’s singles champion, one in every of 22 titles captured over the course of his profession. In 2008, whereas nonetheless a youngster, del Potro earned 4 ATP singles titles, alongside the way in which compiling a 23-match successful streak. In 2009, del Potro reached his first Grand Slam remaining, and secured a five-set victory on the US Open. He completed the yr because the youngest participant within the high 10 rating. In 2016, del Potro led Argentina to its first Davis Cup title and likewise earned a silver medal within the Olympic singles competitors.

Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia is a four-time main champion, with two apiece in singles and doubles. She received singles titles on the 2004 US Open and 2009 Roland-Garros, and doubles titles on the 2005 and 2012 Australian Opens. She reached a further two main finals in each disciplines. Throughout her 15-year profession, she received 18 WTA singles titles and 16 in doubles and reached profession excessive rankings of No. 2 in singles and No. 3 in doubles. In 9 years of representing Russia, Kuznetsova and her groups captured three Bille Jean King Cup titles. 

The Contributor Class is taken into account for Corridor of Fame induction each two years, and acknowledges true pioneers, visionary leaders, or people / teams who’ve made a transcendent affect on the game:

Mary Carillo started her groundbreaking broadcasting profession within the early Nineteen Eighties after retiring from her enjoying profession on the WTA Tour. Beginning as an analyst for USA Community, she grew to become the primary girl to recurrently commentate on tennis, together with males’s matches. Her success paved the way in which for a lot of different girls to enter the sector and canopy the game frequently. All through her profession, Carillo has coated a whole bunch of tennis occasions for main networks like ESPN and NBC, incomes a number of awards, together with WTA’s “Broadcaster of the Yr.” Past tennis, she has additionally coated 16 Olympic Video games and served as a correspondent for HBO’s “Actual Sports activities,” incomes six Emmy® Awards and three Peabody Awards earlier than her induction into the Sports activities Broadcasting Corridor of Fame in 2018.

Marshall Happer was an impactful chief within the early years of males’s skilled tennis, accountable for growing the organizational fundamentals that enabled the game’s development and future success. In 1974, the unbiased Males’s Tennis Council (MTC), consisting of three ITF Representatives, three ATP Representatives, and three Match Representatives was created because the governing physique for males’s tennis. Between 1974 and 1981, the MTC had no administration and no strategy to implement its personal guidelines. In 1981, Happer was employed to supply an answer, growing the primary skilled administration for the boys’s tennis. Throughout his tenure, Happer modernized and enforced the Guidelines and Codes of Conduct to forestall participant misconduct, created a world certification for officers, and employed the primary full-time skilled officers. Moreover, the MTC offered press data and press liaisons to all tournaments, commenced drug testing, and based the participant pension fund. In 1990, the MTC was dissolved when the Grand Slams grew to become unbiased, and the ATP Tour started. Each continued to make the most of Happer’s MTC guidelines for administration. After the MTC, Happer served as Govt Director of the USTA for 5 years, throughout which, as well as for being accountable for the operation of the USTA, the US Open and the USTA Davis Cup, he supervised the negotiations for and signed the brand new 99-year lease for the USTA Billie Jean King Nationwide Tennis Middle and the development contract for the brand new Arthur Ashe Stadium.