4 min read
Venus Williams was spotted practicing last week in Zadar, Croatia with two-time UTR Pro Tennis Tour (PTT) champion Matija Pecotic. The two enlightened locals by hitting balls together at the Sportski Centar Visnjik, which is the host site of PTT events.
During his career, 33-year-old Matija Pecotic (UTR Rating 14.06) has been based in South Florida, where Williams resides and so he invited her to visit his home country Croatia. Williams was just in London where she teamed up with Jamie Murray at Wimbledon for the mixed doubles event. The 42-year-old hasn't played singles since last summer.
Pecotic has been busy competing on the ATP Challenger Tour, ITF Tour, and PTT. The lefty played college tennis for Princeton University and is ranked No. 591 on the ATP Tour, although he's been as high as No. 206. He has won a whopping 10 titles on the ITF Tour since 2015.
Last year in January, Pecotic made his PTT debut in Naples, Fla., reaching the semifinals. During the summer, he captured the PTT $25K in Zadar with six straight-set wins. In May, the Croatian competed in the PTT $25K in Boca Raton, held at the Rick Macci Tennis Academy. He scored wins over Sebastian Gorzny in the semifinals and Connor Farren in the final for his second PTT victory.
About the UTR Pro Tennis Tour
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.