On behalf of the Universal Tennis team, I want to extend our gratitude for being a part of the Universal Tennis community.
Together, we are making a real, positive impact on the game and creating a global movement to change tennis for the better. Over the last year, there were thousands of exciting new opportunities created to get players of all ages and levels on the court, from small towns to big cities and everywhere in between. Every day, we’re seeing the creative ways in which you are using UTR to grow the game. Some of the many highlights from the past year include:
- New UTR Open Series events and Wild Card tournaments, including the UTR AO2020 Wild Card and the VCO UTR Wild Card Open afforded talented players the opportunity to win their way into the 2020 Australian Open and 2019 Volvo Car Open.
- New UTR College prospect camps giving players the opportunity to show their skills and speak with college coaches.
- Clubs using UTR to run events for their adult members and engage their greater community.
- I am especially pleased to share that this year for the first time, high school players are now able to get their matches to count for UTR, creating more opportunities for a broader group players to get in the game and find a pathway to college tennis.
Today, there are over 1,500 UTR Events held worldwide every month and the rating now tracks 14 million match results. The new UTR App for iPhone makes it even easier for players to see their rating, find and message others, and discover and register for events. All across the world, Universal Tennis and UTR continue to be adopted as the preferred tennis platform and rating system in academies, colleges, clubs, adult leagues, events and federations.
But the best part of all of this is hearing real stories from you. From the parent of a junior player who no longer needs to spend the weekend on the road because her child can play closer to home, from a high school student who found his dream college tennis team and received a scholarship based on his UTR, from a club pro in New Jersey who has seen his members playing more often...the positive impact that the UTR Platform is having for people like you is why we are committed to changing tennis for the better.
We are honored to have your support. Thank you for everything that you do to grow the game we all love.
Here’s to many more “W’s” on and off the court in 2020!
Mark Leschly
Universal Tennis Chairman & CEO