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International Tennis Federation (ITF) tournaments represent an important step in player development. In 2015, over 400 Junior and 600 Pro Circuit tournaments were played all over the world, involving thousands of players. These players face the challenges of continuous travel and play with little financial return. However, few epidemiological data are available for this playing level.1 We aimed to present a profile of medical injuries reported during ITF Junior and Pro Circuit tournaments in 2015, in keeping with a commitment to injury prevention2 and following the recommendations for standardised tennis injury reporting.
Twenty-three ITF Junior and Pro Circuit tournaments were included in the analysis. All injuries requiring medical attention were registered. Recommendations for injury reporting3 were followed with regard to injury location, type, onset and place of intervention. Player gender and playing surface were also documented. Injury rates per match, per 1000 games and per 1000 hours of play were calculated.
There were 922 reports of injuries. The most affected region was the lower limb, followed by the upper limb and trunk, which extends previous research. The most common injury types were muscle, tendon and ligament injuries and abrasions/lacerations. Overall, the shoulder was affected most often, followed by the thigh and lower back. Gender comparison showed that boys reported significantly more hip and forearm injuries and fewer knee issues than girls. When comparing injury types, girls had significantly more ligament injuries than boys. These differences follow recent evidence of gender-specific findings in tennis players.4
Hard court matches originated a significantly lower number of shoulder injuries and a higher number of elbow injuries than clay and artificial grass. Hard court matches also produced more tendon-related injury reports and fewer joint injuries than the other two surfaces. In junior players, lower injury rates were found on clay than on artificial grass.
We present novel epidemiological data on elite tennis players on the ITF circuits. The rate of injury incidence is high compared with other studies in tennis.4 ,5 Injury location patterns appear consistent across these competitive levels (ATP, Women's Tennis Association, ITF, National Collegiate Athletic Association). Injury rates and number of differences in injury location and type between genders add to some contradictions in the literature and warrant further investigation. The full-length study can be seen as an online supplementary file.
Supplemental material
Footnotes
Competing interests None declared.
Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.
Data sharing statement No additional unpublished data are available to anyone other than the author.