Ben Shelton. Iva Jovic. Learner Tien. All three could be posting second-week smiles at the 2026 US Open in New York, and all three competed on the UTR Pro Tennis Tour before ascending to the top of the game.
More and more throughout the world, the road to the Grand Slams goes through the UTR Pro Tennis Tour. Case in point: at the 2026 US Open, a total of 65 current and former UTR Pro Tennis players (full list below) are competing in the main and qualifying draws of the season’s final Grand Slam tournament.
All told this year, current and former UTR Pro Tennis players have made 250 appearances in Grand Slam draws. That showcases the rising popularity and prominence of the UTR Pro Tennis Tour in the global tennis landscape.
View complete UTR Pro Tennis Tour calendar
|
Grand Slam Qualifying/Main Draw |
PTT Players |
|
2026 US Open |
65 |
|
2026 Wimbledon |
55 |
|
2026 Roland Garros |
64 |
|
2026 Australian Open |
66 |
|
2025 US Open |
61 |
|
2025 Wimbledon |
49 |
|
2025 Roland Garros |
40 |
|
2025 Australian Open |
49 |
|
2024 US Open |
68 |
|
2024 Wimbledon |
22 |
|
2024 Roland Garros |
23 |
|
2024 Australian Open |
30 |
Rising tennis players throughout the world cherish the guaranteed matches and substantial prize money offered on the UTR Pro Tennis Tour. This year, more than 450 events will be held in 30-plus countries.
View full UTR Pro Fall Slam schedule
Additionally, a total of 36 former college tennis players are competing in the main draws of the 2026 US Open, and the UTR Pro Tennis Tour has made it easier than ever for college tennis players to jumpstart their pro tennis careers.
The UTR Pro Summer Slam, which just concluded its second swing, and the UTR Pro Fall Slam, now underway throughout the U.S., both take place at universities throughout the country and help student-athletes reduce travel expenses while experiencing pro tennis.
“It's super great that the UTR PTTs are held in a variety of locations. I was very lucky to play a PTT event in College Station,” said Mary Stoiana (UTR Rating 12.05), a two-time UTR PTT champion who graduated from Texas A&M last year and qualified for the 2026 US Open.
“I would definitely recommend playing PTTs to other college players. It gets you familiar with the match volume that you're going to be experiencing throughout your time playing college tennis, and it's a very great event for developing your game, because, like I said, no matter win or lose, you're always guaranteed multiple matches, so you can always get right back out there and work on something that you would like. And I found it very beneficial to developing my game.”
Former and current UTR Pro Tennis players at the 2026 US Open
| Men | Women |
| Adam Walton | Aoi Ito |
| Alex Michelsen | Iva Jovic |
| Ben Shelton | Katie Volynets |
| Ignacio Buse | Kimberly Birrell |
| Jenson Brooksby | Maya Joint |
| Learner Tien | McCartney Kessler |
| Harry Wendelken | Yuliia Starodubtseva |
| Nishesh Basavareddy | Oksana Selekhmeteva |
| Tristan Schoolkate | Oleksandra Oliynykova |
| Andre Ilagan | Taylor Townsend |
| Billy Harris | Anouk Koevermans |
| Braden Shick | Gabriela Knutson |
| Colton Smith | Mary Stoiana |
| Daniel Milavsky | Alice Tubello |
| David Jorda Sanchis | Alina Charaeva |
| Federico Agustin Gomez | Anastasia Gasanova |
| Genaro Alberto Olivieri | Angela Fita Boluda |
| Guido Ivan Justo | Ayana Akli |
| Jack Pinnington Jones | Carson Branstine |
| Jack Secord | Darja Semenistaja |
| Jacob Fearnley | Elizara Yaneva |
| Keegan Smith | Iryna Shymanovich |
| Luka Pavlovic | Janae Preston |
| Max Alcala Gurri | Julia Avdeeva |
| Nikolas Sanchez Izquierdo | Julieta Pareja |
| Pablo Llamas Ruiz | Kayla Day |
| Spencer Johnson | Ma Ye-Xin |
| Stefanos Sakellaridis | Mia Ristic |
| Tom Gentzsch | Savannah Broadus |
| Trevor Svajda | Teodora Kostovic |
| Tristan Boyer | Vendula Valdmannova |
| Veronika Podrez | |
| Akasha Urhobo | |
| Thea Frodin |
In March 2025, Oleksandra Oliynykova (UTR Rating 12.20) of Croatia was winning a UTR Pro Tennis event in Zagreb. Now she’s ranked inside the Top 50 and playing in the 2026 US Open main draw. She’ll open against wild-card recipient Reese Brantmeier, a 2026 Universal Tennis Foundation Hurd Award champion.
Thea Frodin (11. 21 UTR Rating) won the UTR Pro Tennis event in Newport Beach in October, and now she's competing in two US Open main draws: the women's singles championships (faces Elena Rybakina) and the Junior Championships, which start Sunday. Frodin acted as Serena Williams in the movie "King Richard."
On the men’s side of the 2026 US Open, Ignacio Buse (UTR Rating 15.64) will look to capitalize from his second tour-level title on Saturday at the Winston-Salem Open. Buse played UTR Pro Tennis events as recently as August 2023, finishing as a finalist in back-to-back UTR events in Costa Rica.