MELBOURNE: Novak Djokovic, the world’s top ranked men’s singles tennis player and the ATP Player’s Council President, announced an investment and strategic partnership with Universal Tennis on Saturday.
Universal Tennis Rating (UTR) is a global tennis rating measurement which caters to players regardless of age, gender and geography on a 16.50 scale, based on a cumulative analysis of their last 30 matches played across 12 months.
UTR’s aim is to make tennis more affordable, accessible and fun for players at all levels around the world as well as providing them with more opportunities at the local level to showcase their talent. Today, it uses data from over 10 million matches from over 1 million players in more than 200 countries and is growing daily.
Through the partnership, Djokovic will not only support new event and enhance existing opportunities in professional tennis to ensure the sport retains economically viable pathways for players, but also collaborate for philanthropic endeavours through the Novak Djokovic Foundation which is co-owned by his wife, Jelena Djokovic.
“Universal Tennis has a compelling plan, the capabilities and resources, and the innovative products and ideas to improve the tennis ecosystem. I am excited to work with the company and their world-class partners to provide solutions that will positively impact tennis. I encourage all nations, the ITF and the governing bodies to join our collaborative effort to bring about long lasting positive change benefiting everyone in tennis,” Djokovic commented on the development.
“Novak Djokovic is one of the all-time greats in tennis who brings a unique and valuable perspective as an elite professional athlete and as someone who has both a deep understanding of the challenges in tennis and the genuine desire to make tennis better. We look forward to collaborating with Novak and his team to bring needed solutions to all levels of tennis to ensure the sport develops and grows,” Universal Tennis chairman and CEO Mark Leschly said.
In addition to the global rating system, Universal Tennis has been releasing its new UTR engagement platform to increase tennis participation by giving organisers the tools to easily run tournaments and events based on player UTRs, letting players connect and discover opportunities for level-based tennis, and most importantly, giving all players worldwide – not just elite tennis players – the ability to get their two-decimal rating on the system.
The platform has shown to dramatically increase participation, engagement and enjoyment for players while providing economic benefits to tennis businesses.
Besides Djokovic, the UTR is already being used by other big names such as Roger Federer (through his sports management company Team8), Rafa Nadal (Academy), Serena Williams and Kim Clijsters. Professional organisations including IMG, Saddlebrook, the United States Professional Tennis Association (USPTA) and most recently, Tennis Australia have taken up to it as well.
“We believe that Universal Tennis can help support the sport by opening up opportunities for the everyday player and bringing a new level of innovation to the game. We’re looking forward to collaborating and identifying new opportunities to grow engagement in the game.” Tennis Australia CEO and Australian Open tournament director Craig Tiley said in a statement.
