Every tennis player can have a UTR Rating to know their level and find fun, competitive play wherever they are. Some players also have a Verified UTR Rating. 

• Verified UTR Rating reflects your results from only verified events.
• UTR Rating reflects your results from a broader range of event types, including self-posted scores, casual play, verified matches, and practice matches. Read more here.

Playing against lower-rated opponents does not necessarily hurt your UTR Tennis Rating; in some cases, it can boost it. This is also true for playing higher-rated opponents. The impact depends upon the percentage of games you win and the UTR Rating difference between you and your opponent.

If you do better than expected, your UTR Rating will go up; if you do worse than expected, your UTR Rating will go down.

This may be the most common question in this UTR Rating FAQs roundup. The UTR Rating is a measurement of player skill today and recalculates daily. There can be several reasons why a change (up or down) would occur. Some reasons could include:

• You played a player that was unrated/projected and their rating has become more reliable through more play.
• Scores from more than 12 months ago fell off your record.

Not every single match you play counts towards your Verified UTR Rating.

The algorithm excludes matches in which:

• A player withdraws before the match starts.
• The match starts but neither player wins at least four games before the match stops.
• There is a UTR Rating difference of more than 2.00. These excluded matches still show up on the player profile but are not used in the rating calculation.

As the difference in UTR Rating increases, so does the likelihood the higher-rated player wins the match easily. Our data indicates matches with a UTR Rating difference of more than 2.00 are almost certain to be a blowout. Results like these are not indicative of either player’s skill level and are excluded by the algorithm.    

In one case, they can. If a lower-rated player wins the match, this result will count towards each players rating. A match will count if a UTR Rating 5.21 wins against a UTR Rating 7.611, but not if a UTR Rating 7.61 wins a match against a UTR 5.21.

Set tiebreakers count as one game; third set 10-point match tiebreakers count as two games.

Providers/coaches must enter all matches, otherwise, the algorithm may not be accurate. The algorithm will automatically disregard matches that are not eligible, such as matches between opponents with UTR Rating differences greater than 2.00.

Since UTR Rating is based purely on scores, it does not count defaults or walkovers. If a player withdraws either 1) before the match starts or 2) during the match but before either player wins at least four games, the UTR Rating algorithm does not count it. However, these results are still displayed on the player’s profile page along with their other scores.

The goal is to balance the long-term sustained level of play vs. the recent trend; 30 matches yield the best balance between the long-term and recent term.

If you have played 40 matches within the last 12 months, the algorithm will use the 30 most recent matches. If you have played only 10 matches within the last 12 months, the algorithm will use those 10 matches; 30 is simply the maximum that will be used.

When the 30th most recent match is played on the same day as the 31st most recent match, the algorithm does not try to determine which one to keep; it keeps them both. They will fall off together when the next match is added.

The singles and doubles algorithms are very similar. For doubles, the algorithm compares the average UTR Rating of Team A to the average UTR Rating of Team B. Given the UTR difference between those two averages, the algorithm expects a certain percentage of games won. The team who performs better than the algorithm’s expectation will see their match rating go up. Both teammates see an increase or decrease by the same amount.    

The ratings are automatically generated by a computerized algorithm and cannot be altered manually. We are able to add or edit incorrect or missing scores on your record, which may impact your rating.

Still have questions not answered in the above UTR Rating FAQs? Click here for more info or submit a ticket to our customer service team.