3 min read
Cade Nadeau is on a mission to reach a 13 UTR Rating in two years, and the 20-year-old Canadian is sharing that journey with the world. Producing and filming his own YouTube series, aptly named “Chasing 13", Nadeau takes viewers on his journey as he trains, plays matches, and develops his game for the pro tour.
A Family-Run YouTube Channel
“Chasing 13” lives on the MP Tennis channel, which Cade and his father, Chris, created. The Nadeaus have just started releasing episodes.
The father-son duo has more than just tennis in common. During COVID, they created MP Tennis, the YouTube channel that they’re using to share their knowledge and experience with players of all ages who are looking to improve.
“We were just sitting at home, and we both have a pretty good knowledge of this sport,” Cade Nadeau told Universal Tennis. “We thought, let's see what we can do with it on YouTube, and it ended up doing well.”
“My aspirations are to play professional tennis, and we're very big on UTR,” Nadeau said. “So we were thinking, why not kind of develop a series that fits into that kind of category? And 13 UTR isn't necessarily the end goal, but it's definitely the next goal, which is the stepping stone to essentially play pro tennis.”
His reasons for sharing his journey globally are strong.
“It’s nice to kind of have that clarity for me as a goal and then to share with others,” he said.
From Humble Beginnings to Pro Dreams
Nadeau picked up tennis while on vacation at seven years old and began pursuing it in his hometown, Quispamsis, New Brunswick. With limited coaching and competitions nearby and no indoor facility, he and his father had to be resourceful to develop his game.
Chris, a former hockey pro, began studying the game and coaching his son. Cade eventually moved two hours from home to train at the Atlantic Tennis Centre in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
“I grew up playing a lot of hockey,” Nadeau said. “Tennis was not really a thing where I'm from, so we had to be very creative to get to the level I am today.”
Striving to Reach 60 Matches
Nadeau is now a sophomore at Southern New Hampshire University. He realized he hadn’t played enough matches in 2022 and one of his bigger goals is to play 60 matches in 2023.
He’ll pad his schedule, particularly during the summer, with Universal Tennis events like the Battle of Boca and College Circuits. With plans to take online SNHU classes next fall, he’ll be able to ramp his schedule up. If he can raise his UTR Rating into the 12s, he’ll be more likely to be accepted into UTR Pro Tennis Tour events.
His goal is to reach the 13s in two years. Viewers on his YouTube channel can learn from Nadeau's experiences as he chases a UTR 13 and beyond.
For more information about UTR PTT and to see all of the results, click here.