The United Arab Emirates and Brazil hosted their first PTT events earlier this year, and additional countries launching this summer will include Slovakia and Greece
(Palo Alto, Calif) — Today, Universal Tennis announces the addition of over 50 events to the 2022 UTR Pro Tennis Tour calendar, bringing the total to 145 events through September in the Americas, Europe, and Asia/Pacific. More events will be announced in the coming months as well.
The UTR Pro Tennis Tour launched in January 2021 with a three-year investment of more than $20 million to provide players with valuable guaranteed matches and prize money. Every UTR PTT event has a minimum $25K financial commitment.
In 2021, the tour was established in 15 countries, offering more than 10,000 competitive, level-based matches for players ranked 200-2000. The additions to the 2022 calendar will bring the total PTT prize money to over $6.5M and increase the host countries to 20 across nearly 50 cities.
The United Arab Emirates and Brazil hosted their first PTT events earlier this year, and additional countries launching this summer will include Slovakia and Greece. Australia will host 14 events starting in May.
“PTT is so much better for players money-wise and experience-wise because you play 3-5 matches,” said two-time PTT champion Deni Zmak. “When we play other tournaments and lose first round, that’s it, just one match. With PTT, you always get a chance to play at least 3-4 matches with different, better players.”
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. Regardless of age, gender, or nationality, aspiring pros can get a sense of where their level is by competing in PTT events and developing their games to move up to the ATP/WTA and Grand Slam level.
Many PTT players have competed in Grand Slams, including Victoria Duval, Taylor Townsend, Jenson Brooksby, Katie Volynets, Ben Shelton, Li Tu, Marc Polmans, and Hanna Chang.
Last month, Universal Tennis and Amazon announced a media rights deal and investment that will see Prime Video become the new home of PTT live streaming. All PTT matches have previously been live-streamed online. It will be easier than ever for players to be scouted by college coaches and watched by fans, family, friends, and personal coaches back home.
“We are excited to announce this collaboration with Amazon,” said Mark Leschly, Chairman and CEO of Universal Tennis. “Prime Video is a clear innovator in the sports streaming landscape and we look forward to bringing the PTT onto the service and pursuing other new initiatives in content, analytics, and insights to expand and engage the global tennis audience.”
Prime Video and Universal Tennis will have more to share about the launch of the UTR PTT Channel in the coming months.
For more information on the UTR Pro Tennis Tour and to register for events, click here.
####About the UTR Pro Tennis Tour (PTT)
The UTR Pro Tennis Tour officially began on January 1, 2021, with a three-year commitment of over $20M to support tennis globally with prize money, venue support, technology, logistics, and competitive play opportunities. Universal Tennis is the owner and organizing body of the UTR Pro Tennis Tour (PTT), with responsibility for its Rules and Regulations, Code of Conduct, Tournament Format and related streaming and commercial rights. The UTR Pro Tennis Tour was started to create a development tour. With fewer events and substantially reduced prize money, aspiring professional players were increasingly struggling in the pursuit of their dreams. Working with host venues and national Federations, Universal Tennis provides additive and complementary opportunities to help emerging players and the broader tennis community.
About Universal Tennis
The mission of Universal Tennis is to connect and grow the sport with innovative events and a global digital marketplace centered around level-based play. The Universal Tennis Engagement Platform is anchored by the UTR Rating, the world’s most accurate singles and doubles tennis rating system. Universal Tennis provides the tools and solutions to make the UTR Rating relevant and valuable to players, coaches, and organizers in their local tennis communities. Universal Tennis is creating opportunities and pathways for players from all over the world, in all stages of life, to find better matches and unlock a more fun and flexible tennis experience. Go to UniversalTennis.com to sign up, activate your player profile and join the global tennis community. Watch our video and connect on social @UniversalTennis to learn more.
Media Contact:
Ben Makarenko: bmakarenko@universaltennis.com