Universal Tennis features 16 levels of tennis and provides tennis players world wide a common language to determine their level of play. The 16 levels of tennis are based on actual match results without regard for age or gender using the Competitive Threshold to determine accurate ratings. In addition, Universal Tennis’s on-line website allows visitors to view thousands of tennis results. In 2011 new search features have been added to our “Basic” subscription and our new “Premium” subscription. These include searches by college, country, state, and level.

Junior players who wish to monitor their match play and level of development will find our “Basic” subscription will be they need.
College bound juniors will enjoy the new “college search” to locate schools whose tennis program fit their level.
U.S. collegiate coaches will enjoy the added search features on our “Premium” website which include advanced searches on all college teams, precise levels to two decimal points, U.S. player searches by state for junior players, and searches by country. All searches can be refined by levels of play.
Parents, teaching pros, and tennis fans of all types will be able to track their favorite players, whether they are professional, collegiate, or college bound junior players.

A player who can win 1 game more than half the number of games it takes to win a match has reached the Universal Tennis Competitive Threshold.

A player who consistently meets the competitive threshold within a given level of play will receive a Universal Tennis Number/Rating at that level. Ratings are determined using players’ results which include up to their last 30 scores within the last 12 months.

A player receives a provisional rating until he or she has a sufficient number of scores in our system to receive a “reliable” Universal Rating.

Over a period of seven years Universal Tennis has monitored thousands of tennis results from professional, collegiate, national junior, sectional junior, and district junior play as well as high school play. Those events in which the range of levels is the narrowest (fewer levels), produce the highest degree of “match competiveness”. As the number of levels in an event goes up (more levels), the degree of “match competiveness” goes down. ATP Grand Slam tournaments average a 70% degree of “match competitiveness”; WTA Grand Slam events average a 55% degree of “match competitiveness”. ITA collegiate championships reach the same level of “match competitiveness” as Grand Slam events. The highest level national junior events rarely meet or exceed a 50% “match competitiveness”: national juniors=45% plus or minus 3%; sectional championships=35% plus or minus 3%; district tournament play=27% plus or minus 3%.

In contrast, Universal Tennis has helped conduct thousands of matches based on “levels of play”, as opposed to “age and gender”. All totaled, the “match competitiveness” for level based events reached 50% across all levels from Level 1 to Level 12.

Matches conducted at Level 1 through Level 4 doubled the degree of “match competitiveness” (50%) as compared to “age and gender” based events designed for “unranked” and “futures” events (25%). By grouping a tournament, round robin, or team match by level of play, the Universal Rating System helps provide the opportunity for efficient, effective, and more economical player development and enjoyable play for all levels.