Harry Wendelken Wins Great Britain's First UTR Pro Tennis Tour Trophy

5 min read

Last month, Harry Wendelken became the first player to win a UTR Pro Tennis Tour (PTT) event in the United Kingdom. The UK is the eighth new country to host the PTT in 2022 and 23rd overall since the tour began in 2021.

Winning at Home

After learning that the PTT was coming to his home country, Wendelken (UTR Rating 13.63) requested a wild card and capped off a milestone month. He won all six of his matches in straight sets and defeated Marshall Tutu in the final.

“I like the way was done,” the 20-year-old Brit said. “Obviously, you got rewarded the better you did, but you still got some prize money. That was a good thing. Also, in the final, there were people watching, and all of it was live-streamed.”

Just two weeks prior to the Men’s $25K PTT in Easton, hosted as part of the Progress Tour, Wendelken won his first ITF title, an M25 in nearby Sutherland. The two-title win streak was a reward for all the hard work Wendelken has put in since recovering from a tough summer.

“I had pneumonia, and I got a COVID chest infection for two months, so a lot of my year had gotten wiped out with illness,” Wendelken said. “I’m fully fit now. I just tried really hard. Everything kind of clicked into place, and I just played very well that month.”

The Road to Pro Tennis

Wendelken picked up the game at age five by playing at summer camps. He found a lot of success on the ITF Junior Circuit, reaching as high as No. 34 in the world in 2019. After spending two years training in Sweden, Wendelken established his home base closer to home in Cambridge. While college coaches came calling when he was a teen, Wendelken and his team weighed the options, and ultimately, he decided to turn pro.

Right now Wendelken is one of six 20-year-old British players in the Top 600 in the ATP rankings (he’s up to No. 528). He, like many other rising pros, is using the PTT to develop for the next step.

“I definitely recommend to players,” Wendelken said. “You can see a whole range of levels. It’s quite good for local players to see where they’re at. It’s also good for players who are starting out and want to transition to the next .”

Join the Universal Tennis mailing list

Learn More About the PTT

 

The PTT is open to players with a UTR Ranking of 200-2000, and wild cards can be awarded to those players with a UTR Ranking of 1-199 or above 2000. Every PTT event creates matchplay opportunities for up-and-coming, collegiate, and pro players thanks to a unique round-robin format. At every event, a group round-robin stage is followed by a World Cup-style playoff, guaranteeing multiple matches and counting all results towards the UTR Rating, the most accurate rating system in tennis. Every PTT event offers 4-5 matches and a minimum of $20,000 in prize money with an earnings guarantee for every participant.

For more information about UTR PTT and to see all of the results, click here.