Student-athletes continued going back to college and university last month in the U.S., and so did the UTR Pro Tennis Tour.
Four UTR PTT tournaments were hosted on college campuses in September, building on the success of the four UTR PTT events that were also held on campuses in August.
Each PTT event has a financial commitment of $25,000, with players guaranteed prize money and multiple matches each week.
Universal Tennis recaps the action from another busy month on the UTR Pro Tennis Tour.
Aney, Smith, Marcos win at Wake Forest University, TCU
American Jessie Aney (UTR Rating 11.03) went a perfect 6-0 en route to her first UTR PTT title at Winston-Salem. The former University of North Carolina Tar Heel didn’t drop a set and earned three bagel sets during her commanding week.
On the men’s side in Winston-Salem, Keegan Smith (13.75) clawed through a three-setter 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 to beat Luciano Tacchi (13.29) of Argentina in the final and win his first PTT title.
In Fort Worth, Texas, Pedro Vives Marcos (14.15) overcame a stumble in group play against Gabriel Evans (12.56) to win the title on the campus of TCU, where Vives Marcos is a junior and plays for the TCU Horned Frogs.
Svatikova wins her second UTR PTT title
In the Czech Republic, Laura Svatikova (10.19) of Slovakia won her second PTT title, beating home favorite Linda Sevcikova (9.96) of the Czech Republic 6-4, 4-6, 6-2. Svatikova also won in Belgrade in April and reached the final in Dubai in February.
On the men’s side in the Czech Republic, Oleg Prihodko (13.65) of Ukraine beat former ATP No. 26 Lukas Rosol (13.72) to win his second PTT title of 2023 (top photo), both of which have come in the Czech Republic.
Rosol famously beat 22-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal in the second round at 2012 Wimbledon.
PTT events in Australia were held for the second consecutive month. The winners in the Gold Coast were Destanee Aiava, who has a UTR Rating of 11.36 and is ranked No. 245 on the WTA.
On the men's side, Filip Peliwo, who has a UTR Rating of 13.39 and is No. 358 in the ATP Rankings, took home the PTT title.
Back on campus, three more UTR PTT events were held at universities across the U.S., including two at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, at LSU in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and in Lawrence, Kansas, at Kansas University.
Respectively, the winners were Malkia Ngounoue, Pierce Rollins, Rudy Ceccon, and Ngounoue once more at KU.