Photo of Aidan Crampton who is chasing a UTR Rating of 10 while enjoying level-based play in Australia

Chasing UTR 10: Australian Tennis Player Details UTR Rating Journey

Tennis is a never-ending journey filled with milestones and moving targets. For Aidan Crampton (UTR Rating 7.07), this journey has been an on-again, off-again battle with his own level of motivation.

Crampton is a 21-year-old tennis player in Melbourne, Australia, who decided in May 2023 that he was going to fully commit to improving his tennis game. He also decided to document it for himself and anyone else who was interested to follow along.

He created the Instagram channel @GoatsAwaken to post video content and in a short time, his following grew (20,300+) as other tennis players found his personal journey relatable and inspiring.

Crampton began playing tennis at age 12, but he put the racquets down after a couple seasons to play other sports. At age 16 he got back on the courts and started entering Tennis Australia junior events called Australian Money Tournaments. 

Back in 2018-19, the UTR Rating was not yet the official rating for Tennis Australia. So Crampton said he had mixed experiences with the level of players he faced.

“I would get beat down by someone way better than me and it would deal a blow to my confidence level as a junior,” he said.

Frustrated, Crampton set the racquets down again after a few too many losses. That is until events in his personal life brought perspective to his relationship with tennis.

Last year Crampton’s father was diagnosed with cancer, and while this part of his story is not one he talks about outwardly on the GoatsAwaken channel, he admits that this was the pivotal moment in his life that allowed him to reconnect with the sport of tennis.

“I created the GoatsAwaken to inspire others to stay motivated,” Crampton said. “Tennis became an outlet for me at that time.”

Tennis players playing tennis after upgrading to Power and saving money one events with UTR Sports

Crampton started playing every day again and thought, ‘Why not document this journey?’ He started tracking his UTR Rating in a story he called “The Road to 10 UTR” with the first benchmark set at 7 UTR. This path began at around a 4.6 UTR and as his rating began to climb, so did his follower base. Crampton is currently at 7.07 UTR.

His renewed tennis journey in Australia has been aided by a much better playing experience as well. In 2022, Tennis Australia partnered with UTR Sports to become the first tennis governing body to adopt the UTR Rating as its official rating. The move has made it easier than ever for Aussies, including Crampton, to find level-based play.

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So how did he reach 7.0 over the course of a year? He started working with a coach and challenging players at clubs around him. He also likes to look at his opponents’ ratings and review some of their past results.

“Sometimes I’ll look at their worst losses to give me some extra motivation,” Crampton joked.

Crampton also purchased a UTR Sports Power Subscription to see the full two-decimal ratings, and he found the advanced analytics, including historical graphs and stats, especially beneficial.

“It’s been helpful to see my progress over the past few months, especially the rating history and results analysis,” he said.

Now, because of his social media following, Crampton said a lot of junior players will reach out on Instagram or through the UTR Sports app to play. When asked about his favorite part of this journey so far, he said that it’s probably the people he has met along the way and the connection he has made with the tennis community.

“Someone with a 10 UTR would’ve never hit with me before,” he said.

Having achieved his first target of 7 UTR and now with his eyes set on 10 UTR, what’s the end goal?

“The goal is to go on forever. I don’t ever want to give it up,” he said.

With those words, Aidan provided all of the context you could ask for if you wondered why the statement in his Instagram bio reads; “For Those Driven To Uphold The G.O.A.T. (Greatest of All Time) Mentality”.

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