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February 1, 2020,
What can you possibly offer an extremely talented person who, in the tennis world, has seen and done it all? Answer?
A leadership position to accomplish even more.
The tennis world is happy for Anne Worchester. So are we.
Ms. Anne Worcester, the first female chief executive of the women’s WTA Tour and one of the most experienced leaders in international sports, will join Universal Tennis, which owns the Universal Tennis Rating (UTR) system, as president.
As reported at Forbes Magazine, “Worcester became the first woman to be named the CEO of the WTA in 1994, making her the first female CEO of any major sports organization at the time. She then became the tournament director of the WTA Premier in New Haven in 1998, and remained the lead of the much-loved August event until it was sold to China earlier this year.
Left to enjoy her first summer off in over 20 years, the highly-in-demand businesswoman was quickly named the president of UTR (Universal Tennis Rating).”
Great news travels fast.
At tennis.com they add, “With over three decades of experience in pro tennis, Anne Worcester joins the TENNIS.com Podcast this week with co-hosts Nina Pantic and Irina Falconi. In the world of tennis, Worcester has done it all and shares her impressive path from recreational player to one of the most well-connected leaders in the game.”
Have you heard of the Universal Tennis Rating system?
We’re just learning about them ourselves. Sounds like a very innovative concept.
Universal Tennis Rating (UTR) is a global tennis player rating system intended to produce an objective, consistent, and accurate index of players’ skill in the game of tennis.
UTR rates all players on a single 16-point scale, without regard to age, gender, nationality, or locale of a given match. All professional players in the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) and the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) have UTRs, as do most college players and many junior tournament players worldwide, as well as many adult league and tournament players.
The UTR database includes results from more than 8 million matches and 200+ countries. More than 800,000 players have UTRs.
Players, coaches, tournament directors, tennis clubs, tennis leagues, and national federations employ UTR in varied ways. These include selecting entrants for, and seeding, tournaments; recruiting players for college teams; scheduling competitive matches with other teams or individuals; finding appropriate local playing or training partners; choosing which tournaments to enter, and others.
We are very interested in hearing more about her stellar pathway and there is news to satisfy our curiosity.
Please read on and enjoy.
Anne Worcester Named President Of Universal Tennis
Former WTA CEO & Connecticut Open Tournament Director Joins Innovative Global Tennis Platform
SAN FRANCISCO, May 28, 2019 /PRNewswire/ — Universal Tennis, the world’s premier tennis platform, today announced that Anne Worcester, former WTA CEO & Connecticut Open Tournament Director, has joined the company as President.
As President, Worcester will be instrumental in overseeing the growth and development of UTR worldwide. Beyond her leadership at the organization, her focus at the outset will be on increasing grassroots efforts to connect communities to the sport and fostering diverse partnerships within the tennis ecosystem to build participation on the platform.
“What drew me to Universal Tennis is its digitally savvy approach to make tennis more affordable, accessible and fun for all players,” said Anne Worcester, Universal Tennis President. “Level-based play helps to break down some of the biggest barriers to our sport, so that it’s not about age, gender, where you play or how much you can afford. UTR makes it easy to find, connect and play with same level tennis partners, anytime and anywhere. This addresses many of the challenges I have experienced all my life as a recreational player, a parent and 35 years on all sides of professional tennis.”
“Anne has an exceptional career in tennis, marked by her commitment to improving the game for players and serving as a champion for tennis worldwide. Her dedication to the betterment and growth of the sport is unparalleled,” said Mark Leschly, Universal Tennis Chairman & CEO. “Anne is fully aligned with UTR’s mission and vision to create more opportunities and open pathways for players of all levels to grow the game. We are thrilled to have Anne on board.”
Worcester has over 35 years of experience in tennis, working with players, tournaments, sponsors and governing bodies. She was the first female CEO of the WTA, becoming the first woman to head any professional sports organization. Worcester served as the Tournament Director of the Connecticut Open for 21 years, developing the WTA tournament into one of the world’s best attended women’s tennis events and a player favorite.
Under Worcester’s leadership, the Connecticut Open was widely recognized as a leading example of leveraging professional tennis to build community tennis, especially among inner city youth. In addition, Worcester co-founded New Haven Youth Tennis & Education (New HYTEs), now in its 15th year, which has enriched the lives and positively affected the futures of hundreds of economically disadvantaged inner city youth. Programs include year-round tennis, education and mentoring programs.
Worcester is a graduate of Duke University. She serves on the boards of the Center for Hearing & Communication and New Haven Youth Tennis & Education (New HYTEs) and will transition to the board of Tennis Foundation of Connecticut. She will be based in Connecticut and New York City.
About Universal Tennis
The mission of Universal Tennis is to make tennis more affordable, accessible and fun for all players, regardless of age, gender, and socioeconomic status. At the core is the Universal Tennis Rating (UTR Powered by Oracle), the global gold standard for all tennis players which reflects their current skill level based on actual performance. The company’s UTR Engagement Platform is built on the rating and provides tools and technology for tennis organizers to run engaging, open level-based events and offers players the ability to connect and discover events, players, coaches, clubs and tournaments worldwide. Visit MyUTR.com to learn more.
Media Contacts:
MVT PR / Matt Van Tuinen / matt@mvtpr.com
Universal Tennis / Erica Annon / erica@myutr.com
SOURCE Universal Tennis
Opening photo via photosport
