3 min read
Sixteen UTR Pro Tennis Tour men’s and women’s $25K events were held all over the globe in June in the United States, Germany, Mexico, Spain, Slovenia, and Bulgaria. Let's highlight some of the champions, including two teenagers.
Horvit Captures Second PTT
During the first week of June, Mia Horvit won her second PTT title of the year by defeating Tenika McGiffin in the final in Charleston. Horvit also won a PTT $25K in Atlanta in April.
“I think it's great because there are tournaments all over the United States now—it's spreading across the world,” Horvit said. “So not only are you guaranteed match play and guaranteed prize money, I think it's a great way to secure a lot of confidence for players getting into
The 24-year-old played college tennis at the University of South Carolina before turning pro in 2021.
Rome Hosts Junior and Pro Joint Event
During the week of June 20, the Rome Tennis Center at Barry College in Georgia held a massive Universal Tennis event with a joint PTT $25K going on at the same time as the Universal Tennis Junior National Championships and Prospect Camp.
Pros, college players, and juniors mingled all week long including during practices and seminars, and for a special dinner provided by local food trucks.
Georgia Tech cleaned up in pro action with the men’s PTT $25K title going to redshirt sophomore Keshav Chopra and the women’s purse of $3,475 won by junior Carol Lee. Lee beat Horvit in the semifinals and the final ended with a retirement from Hurricane Tyra Black after Lee snagged the first set. Black came into the event on the heels of winning an ITF W25 in Santo Domingo.
“It's an amazing thing against so many high-level players,” Black said. “Getting to play lots of matches, having the live streams so that my coach can watch back home… It's way more prize money than even most pro tournaments have. So just being guaranteed that money showing up is an amazing thing.”
Teen Pursoo Wins First Pro Event
At the joint men’s and women’s PTT $25K held during the week of June 26 at the Georgia Gwinnett College in Lawrenceville, Ga., 16-year-old Ariana Pursoo emerged as the champion.
The teen is one of the top-ranked juniors in the United States and won all six of her matches including over fellow teens Luciana Perry and Bridget Stammel in the semifinals and the final.
Pursoo has played PTT events before with her best result prior to Lawrenceville being the final of Naples in November.
Winners Emerge in Europe
Over in Germany, Darja Semenistaja, a 19-year-old from Latvia, won the PTT $25K in Mulheim, Germany during the week of June 13. She dropped just one set in six matches, in the final against Ksenia Laskutova. The following week, Semenistaja won the ITF W25 in Ystad, her third of the year.
In June, 22-year-old Teodor Giusca captured two PTT titles in a row, first in Slovenia and then in Bulgaria. The Romanian actually lost a round-robin match in Bulgaria but bounced back to win the semifinals in three sets and the final over Polo Amoros Ramos, 7-5, 7-6(6).
Giusca started playing PTT events for the first time this summer and finishing up his senior season at No. 1 for the University of Clemson.
Photo Roundup (Newport Beach, Boca Raton, and Rome)
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.