David Haggerty elected President of International Tennis Federation

David Haggerty has been elected President of the ITF ©ITF/Twitter

United States' David Haggerty has been elected President of the International Tennis Federation (ITF) to replace Francesco Ricci Bitti at the ITF Annual General Meeting in Santiago today.

He received 200 votes in the second ballot to narrowly defeat India's Asian Tennis Federation head Anil Khanna, who received 192 votes.

Juan Margets of Spain and Swiss Professional Tennis Association President Rene Stammbach were eliminated in the first ballot.

Italy's Ricci Bitti, also the chairman of the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations, is standing-down after 16 years at the helm and is now pledging to focus on his roles within the Olympic Movement.

He was named honorary life President of the body.

Haggerty will become the only American to currently serve as President of a Summer or Winter Olympic body, in what could be taken as a boost for the nation as Los Angeles bids for the 2024 Olympics and Paralympics.

An experienced official, he has held a variety of roles within the United States Tennis Association (USTA) since 2001 and within the ITF since 2009.

He served as chairman, chief executive and President of the USTA from 2013 to 2014, and was a vice-president on the ITF Board of Directors between 2013 and 2015.

David Haggerty will replace Italy's Francesco Ricci Bitti ©Getty Images

Haggerty is a also former President of the Tennis Industry Association and a current board member of the International Tennis Hall of Fame, while he has also had a 30-year career in the racket industry, and is a former chairman of Head USA, and President of both Penn Racquet Sports and Dunlop Maxfli Slazenger Sports.

“It is a privilege and an honour to be elected President of the ITF," he said.

"Tennis is the common language that binds all our member nations.

"It is important that we continue to listen to each other and work together to keep the ITF strong.

"I want to thank Francesco, who has done so much for the ITF over the last 16 years, for his leadership and friendship.”

Haggerty will now shift from his current role as ITF vice-president, with reviewing the formats of the Davis Cup and Fed Cup a key part of his election manifesto.

This comes after other decisions taken today in the Chilean capital included a decision to introduce a fifth set tie-break in the Davis Cup.

“I would like to congratulate David Haggerty on his election as ITF President, and wish him all the best for the future," said Ricci Bitti.

"It has been my pleasure to serve as President for the last 16 years, and I am confident that under David’s leadership, the organisation can continue to grow with the support of the ITF staff and our 210 member nations.”

Delight was also expressed by the United States Olympic Committee, whose chairman Larry Probst "congratulated Dave Haggerty on today’s historic election".

Probst added: "Dave has dedicated his life to the sport of tennis at all levels - as a player, business executive, and national and international sport leader.

"He is passionate, driven and knowledgeable, and will no doubt continue to use his considerable talents to advance the sport of tennis.”

David Haggerty is the only American to currently lead a Summer Olympic International Federation ©Getty Images

Elections also took place for the ITF Board of Directors for the next four years, with nine new appointments made.

These consisted of United States' Katrina Adams, Britain's Martin Corrie, Egypt's Ismail El Shafei, France's Bernard Giudicelli, Denmark's Thomas Koenigsfeldt, New Zealand's Celia Patrick, Russia's Aleksei Selivanenko, Bulgaria's Stefan Tzvetkov and Kazakhstan's Bulat Utemuratov.

They join returning members Sergio Elias of Chile and Jack Graham of Canada, as well as Khanna and Stammbach.

Retiring Board members Roman Murashkovsky of Russia, Stuart Smith of Britain and Georg von Waldenfels of Germany were named ITF honorary life counsellors.