YOUNG tennis players in Bahrain will have a chance to generate an internationally recognised rating when a first-of-its-kind singles tournament takes place this coming week.
Participants will be able to generate and develop their Universal Tennis Rating (UTR) – a global system that aims to create objective, consistent, and accurate ratings of skills in tennis players.
Bahrain resident and avid tennis player Emir Isik is bringing UTR to Bahrain. He is spearheading the organisation of the tournament, and has gained the support of the Bahrain Tennis Federation (BTF), Bahrain Tennis Club (BTC) and Ministry of Youth and Sports.
The competition will be hosted from Monday to Wednesday at the BTF courts in Isa Town.
Twenty-four-year-old Isik is a former Bahrain School student, who recently returned from the US where he earned a degree in economics at Northeastern University in Boston. He then worked for a year at a leading global financial services firm based in New York, and in his leisure time would regularly compete in men’s open tournaments in the area.
It was during this period that he was introduced to UTR, which he immediately thought would be of great benefit to tennis players in Bahrain, especially the youth.
This week’s tournament is expected to attract interest from many of the up-and-coming talents from around the world who will be competing in the ninth Bahrain ITF Juniors Championship at BTC.
“Those who get eliminated in the qualifying draw, and first round of the main draw, can take advantage of their remaining time here by competing in the UTR tournament,” said Isik.
“We guarantee that each entrant will get to play at least two matches, all of which will be recorded in their UTR ratings.
“There are many players competing in the ITF Juniors Championship who have emphasised the importance of UTR due to it being the most widely used recruiting tool for US college coaches in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the US.”
Interested participants will need to pay an entrance fee of $50 to take part. Transportation will be provided to all players from the BTC or from Golden Tulip Hotel to the match venue and back.
For more information on the UTR event, contact Isik at +973-39148265 or e-mail him at emirisik12@gmail.com.
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 and the Women’s Tennis Association have UTRs, as do all college players in the US and many junior tournament players worldwide.