Since its inception, UTR Sports has been elevating and supporting college tennis.
That support for college tennis has only increased as UTR Sports has grown to become a global company specializing in the most important aspects of tennis and pickleball, including ratings, tournament and league software, and rankings.
WATCH: How UTR Sports Elevates College Tennis
How does UTR Sports elevate and support college tennis? For starters, through the world-class UTR Rating.
"We use the UTR [Rating] for lineups but for scouting, and then of course, recruiting, which is probably the most important metric that we use a lot," said Dean Orford, women's tennis head coach at Tulsa University. "It's an incredible tool. And it's, like I said, we use it almost daily."
WATCH: What is the UTR Rating, and How Does it Work?
How UTR Sports Elevates, Supports College Tennis: UTR Rating & College Tennis
UTR Sports developed the UTR Rating, the gold-standard rating for college recruitment, which rates every tennis player on a scale of 1.00 to 16.50. The algorithm takes into consideration the opponent's rating and is based on games won, rather than a pure win-loss record.
UTR Sports gathers results from tennis federations and partners around the world, with tens of millions of match results in its system. The organization works with thousands of tennis providers globally to connect people who play tennis.
WATCH: What Makes the Perfect College Tennis Recruit?
Players who have yet to register for UTR Sports can easily claim their profile and unlock more level-based play.
"UTR Sports is elevating college tennis because it allows you to go in and look at other teams and look at also recruits and kind of see what their level is in comparison to the team we currently have," said Hannah Fetters, women's tennis head coach at Appalachian State University.
College Tennis Coaches: UTR ‘Makes Our Job a lot Easier’
Many college tennis coaches, including Anthony Pham, University of Colorado women’s tennis head coach, often check a player’s UTR Rating upon hearing from her.
“When we have a player contact us or we're speaking to a player, one of the first things we do is look at their UTR. By no means is that an end-all, but it gives us a really good gauge about the player’s level,” he said.
“We can look at all their results, whether they're playing junior tournaments here or tournaments overseas. It captures all of that, and it makes our job a lot easier.”
Other coaches rely almost exclusively on the world-class UTR Rating to ignite – or dismiss – a recruiting process.
“Recruiting wise, I can get a level immediately on an athlete, then I can go in the profile and see who they played and they haven't played. That number is pretty easy — either you look more into a recruit or you don't, just by that number,” said Edgar Dean Clower, Wyoming University women’s tennis head coach.
College scouting programs also use the UTR Rating to identify promising young tennis players, especially those overseas. By having a global standard rating, college coaches and scouts don't need to head out aimlessly to watch matches, and can be more precise in deciding which potential recruits are worth their time to see live.
The proof is in the data: More than 90 percent of U.S. college coaches are on the UTR Sports platform.
Growing College Tennis Revenue
UTR Sports has invested millions of dollars in new technology, data science, analytics, and events (including camps, circuits, and clinics) to grow revenue for college programs.
“We believe that the buy-in from the recruiting agencies, as well as the college coaches' familiarity and trust in the UTR Sports platform, have been the key reasons for our success in being able to truly elevate college tennis,” said Chase Hodges, UTR Sports Vice President/General Manager.
UTR Sports Tennis Camps
Tennis camps held at college campuses provide an important revenue source for college tennis programs everywhere. UTR Sports is currently the second-largest provider of tennis camps for junior tennis players in the U.S., offering both summer and winter camps.
WATCH: Why Coaches, Players Love UTR Sports Camps
"The UTR camps have been a great avenue to allow TCU to provide match play opportunities to the community," said Courtney Collins-Guenter, women's tennis head coach at TCU.
"We ran three camps just this summer, and having players be able to complete between seven and eleven singles and doubles matches in one weekend, regardless of winning or losing, is huge."
UTR Sports College Circuits
UTR Sports College Circuits, which are open, prize-money tournaments, debuted in June 2022 and have already expanded internationally to Canada.
The events use a tiered prize-money system, which encourages players to sign up as early as possible to increase the amount of prize money and the level of the event. Since the launch, UTR Sports has created 200 College Circuits events and awarded more than $58,000 in prize money.
WATCH: Why College Tennis Coaches, Players Love College Circuits
“UTR Sports College Circuits provide an incredible opportunity for everyone and anyone to play in a high-level event,” said Hannah Keeling, Georgia Gwinnett College men’s and women’s tennis head coach. “I highly recommend college circuits to everyone.”
For Maciek Sykut, men’s tennis head coach at Elon University, college circuits “create opportunities for our student-athletes to sharpen their skills through competitive play.”
UTR Sports NIT Championship
College tennis had long been lacking another end-of-season national championship, in addition to the NCAA championship. In fact, for about eight years, Wyoming coach Edgar Dean Clower had participated in discussions around hosting a national invitational tennis championship for college tennis.
In May 2023, however, UTR Sports and the UTR Sports Collegiate Alliance (UTCA) changed that with the inaugural UTR Sports NIT Championship.
WATCH: Tulsa Men, Women Sweep 2024 NIT Championship Titles
In Atlanta, eight men's and eight women's collegiate teams competed for the national title. The tournament, which was broadcast globally on Amazon Prime, crowned TCU and Liberty University as women's and men's champions, respectively.
The second edition of the national championship was held at IMG Academy in Florida in May 2024 and saw the Tulsa Golden Hurricanes sweep both the men’s and women’s titles.
"To get to come here and play this event, which is new, in which you mirror basketball, it's another national championship. UTR did a very good job of running a first-class event,” said Vince Westbrook, Tulsa men’s tennis head coach.
UTR Sports Collegiate Alliance
The UTCA was created to bring together various stakeholders in collegiate tennis, working closely with college coaches to strengthen the college programs and equip players to play more and progress to the next level. The alliance's goal is to help players turn professional, and later join events, such as tournaments on the UTR Pro Tennis Tour.
The UTR Pro Tennis Tour is an important part of the successful college-to-pro tennis pathway that UTR Sports also supports throughout the year, including through recent initiatives like College Night at the Atlanta Open, an ATP 250 event.
Mark Leschly, CEO and Chairman of UTR Sports said: “At UTR Sports, we are so proud to continue elevating and supporting college tennis."
