Katherine Hui competes for Stanford University and is a UTR PTT Champion

'Love the PTTs': Why Stanford Tennis Star, Former US Open Champ Enjoys PTT Tournaments

Katherine Hui of Stanford University wasn’t even planning on competing in her first UTR Pro Tennis Tour event in August.

The 2023 US Open girls singles champion battled injuries during the spring college tennis season and had never traveled to a tournament without her parents or teammates.

But she leapt at the last-minute chance to compete in the $25K PTT event in Boca Raton. She’s glad she did.

Hui (UTR Rating 10.63) won the $25K event, going 6-0 in group and playoff play. She enjoyed the guaranteed matchplay and prize money that accompanies all PTT events globally and now recommends the event series to all college players.

“I really love the PTTs because they give me a lot of matches,” Hui told UTR Sports. “The field was really strong, and after that tournament, it helped me get a lot of my confidence back and get me back to my level.”

The PTT, which started in 2021, has become a mainstay in the pro tennis landscape as players are drawn to the guaranteed matchplay, which is found nowhere else in pro tennis.

At other, non-PTT pro tennis tournaments, players travel from city to city and might play only one match and often leave with scant prize money. But with global PTT events, players know they’ll leave match-tough and with prize money in hand.

“It’s just a really good opportunity to compete against really good players,” Hui said. “Obviously the money is a really, really good addition. But I think for me, I wasn't even thinking too much about that. I was thinking about getting some high-quality matches in, and it's so well-organized and everything. I just had a really good experience. So I would encourage any other college athlete, especially if it's at your college campus, to go play.”

More college athletes across the country will have easy access to the PTT, as recently announced by UTR Sports. The number of PTT events held at college campuses is expected to jump from 30 this year to more than 100 in 2025.

Among the new universities hosting PTT events next year will be the University of Southern California, Miami University, and Baylor University. (See full list here).

That announcement was one of a number of ambitious initiatives, including the $500,000 PTT Tour Card program and the expanded 2025 calendar, that will help the PTT double in size in 2025. Registration is currently open for events throughout the year.

Old-school matchplay, however, was what drew Hui to her first PTT event. Since helping Stanford win the 2024 Pac-12 women’s tennis tournament, she had spent much of the summer training. But Hui felt like she was lacking that competitive edge.

She struggled in her initial match in Boca Raton as she was unused to the conditions and the courts. Yet she battled past Sophia Cisse-Ignatiev (UTR 9.56) in three sets, 6-3, 6-7(1), 6-1. From there, Hui dropped only one set and won the championship match 6-1, 6-0 against fellow collegiate player Zoe Hammond (10.17).

“Through every match, I was learning more and getting back to my level. You just put yourself in so many different situations,” Hui said. “It's just not something that training can emulate.”

At Stanford, Hui plays college tennis matches throughout the country and against a variety of opponents. She said those experiences have helped her learn how to compete even when she isn’t having her best day. It’s a characteristic that helped her in Boca and will help her moving forward at the PTT and beyond.

Photo credit for top photo: Supriya Limaye/ISI Photos

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