Universal Tennis becomes Official Rating System of Tennis Australia

By Witherspoon
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Updated: December 2, 2021

Australian Open at sunset. Photo credit: EPA-EFE/DAVE HUNT

Universal Tennis and Tennis Australia have expanded their partnership, making the UTR Rating the new official rating system of Australia. As the Australian summer of tennis officially launches today, tennis enthusiasts down under can look forward to player-centric development pathways and level-based competitive playing opportunities across the country using the UTR Rating.

“We’re excited to extend and expand our partnership with Universal Tennis to deliver the new rating system to support player development and all forms of competitive play in Australia,” Tennis Australia Chief Tennis Officer Tom Larner said.

From 1 January 2022, the UTR Rating will be integrated across the Competitive Play calendar to help determine a player’s ability and to help players, parents and coaches to better identify the events and leagues best aligned to their players’ levels.

“We are excited to expand our partnership with Tennis Australia making the UTR Rating the exclusive ratings solution for tennis in Australia. The UTR Rating continues to be the gold-standard and we look forward to working with the great team at Tennis Australia to continue to build on the momentous growth of the sport by making the game more enjoyable through level-based play,” said Mark Leschly, Universal Tennis Chairman & CEO.

The UTR Rating will be incrementally introduced into selected Inter-Club, League and Team Tennis offerings throughout 2022 as the National Ratings System is gradually phased out.

The UTR system rates all players – professional, collegiate, junior and recreational – on the same 16-point scale, regardless of age, gender or location. The Universal Tennis algorithm calculates a player’s UTR Rating based on up to the 30 most recent results within the past 12 months, the number of games they win in those matches, and the strength of their opponent. The algorithm has an expected outcome in terms of games won for every match and a player’s UTR Rating will fluctuate based on the actual results compared to the expected results.

A player’s UTR Rating is therefore said to reflect their “current skill level based on actual performance” and allows players to compete locally while having their results count globally.

“Since beginning our partnership with Universal Tennis in January 2019, they have been pivotal in helping tennis to open up more opportunities for both the everyday player and performance athlete in a time highly affected by the pandemic,” said Larner. “Transitioning to a single rating system will provide improved level-based play for players of all ages and abilities.”