The American, elected to replace Italian Francesco Ricci Bitti as President last September, outlined the ITF’s mission to develop, grow and promote tennis around the world through good governance, integrity and trust, inclusiveness, innovation, ambition and collaboration.

The ITF 2024 agenda follows on from the restructure of the ITF at the start of the year to create two expanded departments, including the activities of the former development department.

The ITF Integrity and Development department is now responsible for development, rules of tennis, governance, anti-doping, anti-corruption, science and technical.

The ITF Circuits and Professional Tennis Events department now includes all ITF circuits, live scoring, Davis Cup and Fed Cup by BNP Paribas, Olympic tennis and officiating.

"It has been important to create a structure to allow us to become a more efficient and effective organisation, and give us more opportunity to realise our primary goal of developing, growing and promoting tennis around the world," said Haggerty.

"ITF 2024 will provide the framework for strategic and sustainable growth over the next eight years, as we work together to strengthen our sport.”

Haggerty claimed, that under his new structure, each country would have a greater role to play in the development of tennis and development investment would increase significantly.

“Every nation has a voice within the ITF,” said Haggerty.

“We now have 60 nations represented on ITF Committees and Commissions, an increase of over 50 per cent from 2015, all of whom are able to lend their expertise to the projects we run.

“We have 35 additional members of Committees and four new taskforces, which ensure that even more of your views are heard.”

Haggerty claimed that investment in the development of tennis was a key way in which the ITF should judge its success.

"Tennis changes lives and our development efforts give opportunity to youth that they would never have,” he said.

"That is why I have put development at the very heart of our new ITF 2024 strategy.

"And it is why we have revised the way in which we allocate our spending to ensure that more funds can be invested where they are needed most and by those who deserve them most."

In 2017, the ITF plans to increase development spending by $2 million (£1.5 million/€1.8 million) to $7.8 million (£5.3 million/€6.9 million).

In 2018 they promised that will raise that again by a further $2 million.

"That’s four million dollars of new money invested in development projects around the world,” said Haggerty.

"Four million dollars made available to you, the nations.

"Four million dollars to help strengthen our sport together."

ITF director of tennis development Luca Santilli provided an update to the Conference and AGM on the development strategies that have been devised to deliver its core objectives.

These are based on increasing participation and developing talented players, the strengthening of regional and international circuits and team competitions and introducing coach certification.

Several developing countries praised Haggerty's initiative.

 "We thought maybe it was time to come to show the new President and the new leadership that we are behind him and I thought his opening speech was very inspiring," said Vanuatu Tennis Federation President and Oceania Tennis Federation vice-president Cyrille Mainguy.

"I’m very optimistic and I think change is always good.

"Tennis is an old sport but I believe that we should all, every nation, have a say.

"In the presentations there was always in the background ‘Working for Nations’ and I think now we have a President who is ready to listen to nations, ready to listen to the challenges in our regions and to try to treat regions by regions and nations by nations because we are all different. 

"I am very happy I came because the atmosphere was great and open-minded."