GREAT TO BE BACK… Jake Magill from Parkes playing a match at the very first tennis competition to be back since the COVID-19 lockdown earlier this year.
Parkes Tennis Club staged the very first regional sporting event last weekend since the NSW Government shut down all sporting codes due to the Coronavirus pandemic.
The Universal Tennis Rating (UTR) event targeted a niche market of players who met the standard criteria. The players involved have an Australian ranking, are involved in the college recruitment system, or want consistent level based matches.
Players travelled from Tamworth, Gunnedah, Canberra, Penrith, Lithgow, Eglinton and Dubbo, while seven players from Parkes took part: Jake Magill, Ben Evans, Andrew Slattery, Joseph Tanswell, Gabe Goodrick, Abbey Kennedy and Maddy McCormick.
All players were guaranteed 4 or 5 best of 3 set level based matches. Parkes is part of a six-event series with Paramount Club at Dubbo. The next event is in Dubbo on 28th and 28th June while the remaining two Parkes events are on 11th and 12th July and 8th and 9th August.
UTR is a global system that rates every tennis player regardless of age, gender, or nationality on a 16-point scale. It’s an objective, results driven rating driven by the strength of your opponent, the amount of games you win and playing 30 matches within one year to show consistency.
As an example, right now Novak Djokovic is 16.18, Alex DeMinaur is 15.73, Ash Barty is 13.36, Jake Magill is 10.18, Ben Evans is 8.16 and Abbey Kennedy is 5.40.
Parkes Tennis run all of their competitions through the UTR systems and competitions organiser Helen Magill is encouraging all players in junior and senior competitions to download the app and sign up and make their profile at www.myutr.com.
TennisNSW will be staging a UTR super series for juniors throughout the Central West starting early July. More information will be provided on the Parkes Tennis Facebook page as it comes to hand.
By Helen Magill