No USTA? Get UTR!

By Jen Azevedo - Sports Director

There’s no USTA yet – what kind of tennis should we be playing?

While we’ve waited out the last six months, we continue to hear about our favorite USTA leagues being pushed further and further.  Like races, like school and like so many other things that we love and miss, the return of our competitive Paseo leagues continue to elude us.  So what else can we do?  Tennis is the ultimate sport to socially distance without becoming socially distant.  It’s the new slogan of the USTA for fall.  How can we get competitive matches in without the assistance of our wonderful league coordinators?  Here are three options for competition that are available right now.

What is UTR (Universal Tennis Rating)?

UTR, or Universal Tennis Rating is the lesser known but rapidly growing body of determining tennis levels from youth to collegiate to pro.  If you’ve ever played tennis, you likely have a UTR rating.  Unlike USTA, ratings are constantly being adjusted, and the range is much bigger.  A beginner will start around 2.0, and Rafa Nadal (French Open Champion!) has a clay UTR rating of 16.49, which is one hundredth of a point from perceived perfection according to the scale.

Paseo Club has UTR match play every Saturday at noon.  Players are scheduled according to UTR numbers, and anyone can play.  Men and ladies, high level and lower, and any age is welcome to compete.  UTR Saturday play is all singles.  Come out and join us!

What is WTT (World Team Tennis)?

World Team Tennis is coming back to Paseo next month!  WTT is a fun format where players can move around in their lineups, games are played at no-ad, and teams are offered the chance to advance to National qualifying events based on one event.

The tournament is a league that will be played over the course of one weekend.  Each division winner will have the opportunity to go to the WTT National Qualifier.  Individuals can register for the event whether they have a team together or not, so everyone is invited to participate.  Sign up at www.paseowtt.com today!

Junior Players and SSV

Our first SSV back at Paseo was completed yesterday with a fun time for all the kids involved! Congratulations to all our participants on their return to tournament action.  If you are a junior player at ANY level, this is a great way to get some competitive tennis in without having to travel.  All SSV events are held over the course of three hours of play, and draws are built to maximize time and play for each level.  Like UTR, players are grouped by ratings instead of age and sex.  The next Paseo SSV event will be held on November 14.