The primary goal of the "Beyond the Tour" program is to connect struggling ex-professionals with other former players and provide an ongoing sense of belonging.

A joint initiative between the International Club of Australia and Tennis Australia, the program will also promote career opportunities after tennis.

Reid's sister Renee Beck attended the launch at Melbourne Park, barely three months after the former Wimbledon junior champion and Davis Cup player Todd died at just 34.

She was unable to watch a moving replay of a Channel Nine story on her precociously talented brother when he was only eight, but said something needed to be done to help former players cope, especially when their careers ended suddenly.

"Todd looked destined to be a tennis player from a young age, so when it didn't work out it was hard for him to adjust to life beyond tennis, to deal with the loss of his career and what could have been," Beck said.

"Though his family were there for him and there were some close friends that stuck by him, he certainly would have benefited from having a support network in place when he found himself suddenly in the wilderness, particularly in the initial stages of his retirement.

"People that had previously been around him disappeared off the radar."

Beck herself was a one-time fledgling professional who cracked the world's top 200 before injury struck, while Reid's other sister Tara graduated with a double degree on a tennis scholarship in the US after leaving school.

Both were able to move on from tennis and forge successful careers, but Todd Reid wasn't so fortunate, with the prodigy "left to his own devices".

Newcombe hailed Beyond the Tour as a great idea and urged players to do a business course, or some other study by correspondence, before retiring.

"You've got a lot of spare time on the circuit," Newcombe told AAP.

"We've got to try to get the players that are maybe 26, 27 years of age who are going to be leaving soon and encourage them to learn things and to get contacts so they're ready to move in to something.

"Make a list of people that you know and prepare for the exit."

Australian Associated Press