Universal Tennis Creates Major Partnership With The United States Professional Tennis Association

Universal Tennis and the United States Professional Tennis Association today announced a partnership to grow and enhance professional development resources for tennis teaching professionals and coaches.

Under the agreement, Universal Tennis Rating (UTR) Powered by Oracle will become the official tennis rating of the USPTA, the largest organization of tennis-teaching professionals and coaches in the United States and the only teaching association in the U.S. that is provisionally accredited by the governing body.  Universal Tennis will enable all USPTA teaching professionals to use its technology for free, providing the tools and products to fundamentally change the way tennis is played at clubs and municipalities in the United States and worldwide.

"Our mission is to elevate the standard of tennis-teaching professionals and coaches. As such, we want our members to have access to the best resources to develop professionally," said John Embree, USPTA CEO. "The Universal Tennis product platform is proliferating and is increasingly valuable in helping professionals improve tennis quality, enjoyment and participation in their local communities."

Starting this summer, USPTA members will be able to access UTR's database, which has 6.5 million match results from more than 700,000 players from 200 countries. Members can use UTR's platform to register and communicate with players, create profiles and groups, develop tournament draws, post and submit scores, and compare players from around the world. USPTA members will also be able to leverage UTR's event management system to facilitate level-based play.

In efforts to support the important initiatives spearheaded by the USTA, Universal Tennis and the USPTA will collaborate to support essential measures and protections to safeguard kids participating in events. The organizations will also partner on strategic marketing initiatives to support the growth and development of tennis and teaching professionals around the world.

"We're excited to partner with the USPTA to grow tennis here in the United States and abroad," said Mark Leschly, Chairman & CEO of Universal Tennis. "We are pleased to offer our suite of tools and technology to support club pros and coaches to engage their communities with more opportunities to play tennis and to use technology to safeguard kids."

To learn more about Universal Tennis, please visit MyUTR.com. For more information about the USPTA, visit USPTA.com.

About Universal Tennis: Universal Tennis is the Company behind UTR Powered by Oracle, a revolutionary system that provides a single, unifying language and standard for tennis players across ages, geographies and gender. The Company's vision is to unify tennis for everyone by bringing cutting edge analytics and community-based technology to players worldwide independent of level. UTR Powered by Oracle is a unique, algorithm-based system for tennis that allows anyone to measure, identify and track their level relative to other players while also providing tools for coaches and organizers to run UTR Powered Events that are level based rather than age or gender driven. Today, the UTR Powered by Oracle system is gathering data from over 6.5 million match results, across 700,000+ players in over 200 countries. The Company has long term strategic partnerships with Tennis Channel, Oracle, Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA), World TeamTennis (WTT), Professional Tennis Registry (PTR), and the United States Professional Tennis Association (USPTA). Universal Tennis is owned by Iconica Partners and other seasoned investors, advisors and operators in tennis, sports, technology and media. To sign up for UTR Powered by Oracle, please visit www.MyUTR.com.

About the USPTA: Founded in 1927, the USPTA is the global leader in tennis-teacher certification and professional development. With more than 14,000 members worldwide, the association raises the standards of tennis-teaching professionals and coaches and promotes a greater awareness of the sport. The USPTA is the first tennis-teaching certification organization to receive provisional accreditation from the United States Tennis Association (USTA). To learn more, please visit www.uspta.com.