The ITA is the governing body and coaches association for college tennis in the United States.

The ITF WTN rates players using a 40-1 scale, with separate ratings for singles and doubles players.

"Tennis is one of the three most popular sports globally," ITF President David Haggerty said.

"College tennis is a wonderfully important part of the sport, an aspirational goal for junior tennis players worldwide and a viable pathway to professional tennis.

"The ITF applauds the Intercollegiate Tennis Association for its outstanding leadership in our global enterprise and is very excited about the unifying vision for how together we can advance the game, especially in using the World Tennis Number as well as promoting other shared initiatives moving forward."

Currently, more than 1.4 million player profiles are already on the WTN website, and 153 national and regional tennis associations have agreed with the ITF to become part of the system.

WTN is second acceptance criteria for ITF World Tennis Tour junior tournaments and calculates United States Tennis Association's (USTA) top 500 list.

From 2023, WTN is the only rating permitted for USTA junior tournaments.

"The World Tennis Number, as developed by the International Tennis Federation and adopted by USTA and 152 tennis federations around the globe, will support college teams and coaches, as well as current and prospective student-athletes, and will enhance the consequential role of tennis within college and university athletic programs," USTA chief executive of community tennis Craig Morris said.