[Feb 11, 2023] Three days later I’m back at the airport, our second home, as I said before and I feel compelled to repeat it.
I got a wildcard at a PTT [Pro Tennis Tour] organized by UTR [Universal Tennis Rating] in Dubai and I decided to play it. There are many advantages for which I choose these tournaments.

1 of 4

But first I will tell you about this new circuit.

UTR ranking is a system created by former professional tennis player Dave Howell in 2008 for Universal Tennis, based on an algorithm that takes into account the results of the last 30 matches.

And in 2021, the UTR Pro Tennis Tour was launched with a three-year commitment and $20 million investment to support global tennis with prize money, venue support, technology and logistics. The main role is to offer competitive matches and to be an intermediate circuit that offers more financial opportunities and not only to players.

Many parents or friends ask me how does a player ranked between 300 – 700 in the world makes a living.

• Tours like PTT are one of the income sources. The main advantage of these tournaments  is that the minimum you can win in a tournament is 400 dollars, even if you lose all the matches.
  In contrast, at an official ITF W15 tournament with WTA points (total prizes worth $15,000), the payout for losing in the first round is $80! At the opposite pole, the winner of a UTR receives USD 3,600, whereas the winner of an ITF tournament receives no more than USD 2,500. Some PTT tournaments (like the one in Dubai) also provide hospitality,  thus our costs are reduced, and we can earn some money to invest in the next ITF tournaments.

Yes, in general we pay for all our travel expenses – plane tickets, accommodation, meals, or for stringing the tennis rackets and, sometimes, also for the expenses of a coach, if we don’t want to be alone in the tournaments. Some players have sponsors or a family that can support them, or a strong Federation backing them up.
But I have had to manage on my own up to this point in my career, sometimes with a little help from those close to me.

• Before 2021 when the PTT circuit was launched, I have also played paid tournaments in Germany. There the system is different, because the tournaments are organized at the end of the week, from Friday to Sunday, and the prize money differs from tournament to tournament. This circuit is advantageous, because there are fewer competition days, the expenses are lower and the chances of making a profit are higher. Other players also participate in France or England.
• But the most important source of income is playing in team competitions.
  Such tournaments are organized in different countries such as Germany, Italy, France, Sweden, Denmark. Players are paid for each match they play, depending on their ranking. I am currently playing in Germany for Luitspoldpark München in Bundesliga 2, and in Italy for TC Padova in the A1 league. For the Italian team I have been playing for 5 years now, and in this time the team got promoted from the last to the first league.

These are the sources of income for a player who is not in the top 250 and does not reach the qualifications of a Grand Slam tournament, but still wants to play professionally and support himself from this sport. It’s a hard path, but at the end, you’re proud to have turned your passion into a profession.