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Another month, another successful series of UTR Pro Tennis Tour (PTT) events. Universal Tennis helped create 17 events in Croatia, the U.S., Spain, Bulgaria, and Argentina.
The PTT has hosted over 20,000 professional matches in 24 countries worldwide since launching in 2021. Every PTT event has at least $25K in financial commitment with higher guaranteed payouts for players than $25K ITF events. The first half of the 2023 calendar will bring the total PTT prize money to $9 million and events to over 460.
Let’s learn more about some of the winners.
Teen Urhobo Captures First Pro Title
The Rick Macci Tennis Academy in Boca Raton hosted a dual-gender PTT $25K during the final week of March, just around the same time as they started hosting UTR Dingles events and pickleball tournaments. Universal Tennis provider Jason Zafiros oversees all events at the academy, including his weekly prize money event called the Battle of Boca.
The women's $25K PTT featured a few WTA Tour pros, including Irina Falconi Hartman, who played college tennis at Georgia Tech before reaching as high as No. 63 in the WTA Tour rankings. This year, the 32-year-old is competing professionally for the first time since having her daughter Isabella in November 2021.
Fellow former Top 100 WTA pro Samantha Crawford also played in the event as she works to get back into competitive action following multiple knee surgeries.
But the championship check of $3,600 went to 16-year-old Akasha Urhobo. Urhobo has won a whopping 10 Battle of Boca $10,000 prize money tournaments, which offer wild cards into UTR Pro Tennis Tour events, all held at the Rick Macci academy. The Fort Lauderdale-based teen battled through the round-robin stage and really found her rhythm in the final, defeating Gabriella Broadfoot, 6-2, 6-0.
Sell Wins Big in Newport
The name Karue Sell may be familiar to you, and that's because the former UCLA standout was ranked as high as No. 371 on the ATP Tour before becoming the face behind My Tennis HQ, a popular YouTube channel. At the men's PTT $25K in Newport Beach, the 29-year-old Brazilian won his first five matches in straight sets before being pushed to three sets in the final by Trevor Svajda.
Perry Reigns Supreme in San Antonio
In Texas, 18-year-old Luciana Perry picked up her third PTT $25K title with the loss of just one set. The teenager is on her way to Ohio State University later this year. She was competing in her first tournament since winning the PTT $25K in Knoxville in December.
“Playing a lot of tournaments is definitely a priority for me because I get to play so many matches and work on skills,” Perry said. “I can watch video after these are all live-streamed. So I get to look back at the match and see what I did right and wrong and I get to work on it the next day.”
Photo Gallery (Boca Raton)
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.