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ROEHAMPTON, England (AP) — Tennis players at the lower and junior levels will have an easier opportunity to move up to the main tours under a new system that makes rankings points available at their tournaments.
The agreement announced Thursday by the International Tennis Federation allocates rankings on the ATP and WTA Tours at $15,000 ITF World Tour tournaments, additional points at men's $25,000 tournaments, and expanded singles qualifying draws to 48 players.
Also, three places in $15,000 tournaments will be reserved for juniors ranked in the ITF's top 100.
The ITF says having one ranking system for men's and women's pro tennis will provide more playing opportunities and more easily enable players to move up the tours.
Rankings will be updated with the new points allocations on Aug. 5 and will be applied retroactively to all tournaments played since last August.
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