6 min read
Today, Universal Tennis announces the initial release of the first six months of the 2022 UTR Pro Tennis Tour calendar with more than 63 events in the Americas, Europe, and the Middle East. Additional events in Asia/Pacific will be announced soon. See the women's schedule here and the men's schedule here.
The UTR Pro Tennis Tour launched in January 2021 with a three-year investment of $20 million (USD) and provides players with valuable guaranteed matches and prize money. Every UTR PTT event has a minimum $25K financial commitment with at least $20K offered in prize money. The PTT format is unlike any other with every event offering its competitors 3-6 guaranteed matches.
“Universal Tennis has completely revolutionized the sport of tennis in every way imaginable,” said TCU Women’s Head Coach Lee Taylor Walker. “Their impact has reached all ages, all levels, all demographics and that’s why we are so grateful to host the UTR PTT.”
Carrying Momentum into the New Year
By the end of 2021, the tour will have reached 15 countries, offered 10K competitive, level-based matches, and over $3.5 million in prize money. The first six months of 2022 will bring the total PTT prize money to more than $5M.
“The ease with which Universal Tennis runs tournaments makes them good events that pay a lot,” said two-time Newport Beach PTT champion Tristan Boyer. “They had live scoring and had live streaming for the matches on every court. They were well-run tournaments. I had fun.”
The schedule reflects an initial list of host countries, including Bulgaria, Croatia, Denmark, Germany, Mexico, the Netherlands, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, United Arab Emirates, The Bahamas, and the United States. Australia and additional countries will be added in the near future.
Providing Valuable Prize Mone and Match Play
The PTT format is unlike any other, with every event offering 3-6 matches and an earnings guarantee for every participant. “Tennis is my job,” PTT champion Mexican professional Marcela Zacarias said. “I do care about (WTA) points, but I also want to win money. I want to invest in my career, but I don’t want to lose money going to ITFs. This year it’s been really important to play on the UTR PTT.” Zacarias, who has a UTR Rating of 11.44 and is ranked #353, has won nine titles earning more than $34,000 in prize money.
The tour will kick off 2022 in Dubai with two events offering $30,000 in prize money plus hospitality. Additional Dubai events will be held in the Spring as well. In addition, four wild cards will be awarded to the winners of the Rackets Academy annual championship in December, creating opportunities for local and regional players to compete at this high level.
“We are delighted to partner with Universal Tennis to host the first-ever UTR Pro Tennis Tour in the Middle East in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates,” said Amer Salah, Founder of Rackets Academy. "
Players’ Benefit from the Pro Tennis Tour
The PTT continues to deliver value to aspiring pro players in the 200-2,000 PTT ranking range by providing a way to boost their earnings and improve their game. Aspiring pros, regardless of age, gender, or nationality, can get a sense of where their level is at by competing in PTT events.
“I wasn't really sure how my body was gonna hold up,” said Victoria Duval, who won the first PTT event she entered in Naples, Fla. “I'm traveling again so I figured it was nice and close and it's obviously a $25K event with pretty good prize money so I went for it. It was a lot of matches and a confidence boost to see that I could hold up for the whole week.”
Like Duval, many PTT players have also competed at the Grand Slam level, including breakout star Jenson Brooksby, teenagers Katie Volynets and Ben Shelton, six-time PTT champion Li Tu, Marc Polmans, and Hanna Chang.
Universal Tennis INSIGHTS, a new predictability and analytics application, gives in-depth data about all pro players as well as windows into every pro tournament from the PTT to the Grand Slams.
For more information on the UTR Pro Tennis Tour and calendar, click here.