Coup Droit wrote:

---

Thanks, cya. I'd understood (wrongly) that they were always mixed. Is there any rhyme or reason, do you know, as to why some are and others not? Or just to cover all bases?

For this week in Essex, the SFs are:

Men

Toby Samuel v Deji Thomas-Smith
Mike Shaw v James Story

Women

Tiffany William v Nyah Kauders
Katarina Stresnakova v Jojo Bach

---

 https://www.theprogresstour.com/find-an-event

Link to the events above. There are a few categories to encourage different levels of players

- Progress Tour Battles / Progress Tour Shootout events -  aimed at increasing level-based competitive opportunities for players on a local level; pools players together in small, level-based draws. These tend to be mixed / co-ed and for lower level players with  UTR of 3-11. Usually run on one day.

-  Progress Tour Summer Swing - three consecutive Tour prize money events with a prize fund. UTR of 5.0 upwards. These are not mixed. (This summer swing dates are 14-18 June, 22 - 26 June and 28 June to 2 July)

Born2WinTennis wrote:

---

I saw this on social media, good luck to Barry Fulcher running it. I've certainly never seen UTR tournaments before in the UK.

---

 James story v toby Samuel final of utr progress tour woodford wells. 

https://youtu.be/UhMRvK36F8I

Progress Tour wrote:

---

The Progress Tour was set up primarily as a prize money tour - I coached a group of players who had no ranking events and no money events to play in the UK 3-4 years ago. The UTR was a great way of underpinning the events at the time - the main reason being that it wasnt anything to do with LTA ratings or rankings systems, both of which, in my opinion, have been defunct for the best part of a decade now and have had a hugely negative impact on the domestic competitor landscape. The UTR also took into account those players who were playing largely outside of the UK (at college), as a number of players returning from the US werent even able to get into the qualifying draws of Brit Tours - despite having UTRs in the 13s, played junior grand slam level, having previously had ATP/WTA rankings etc etc. Our flawed domestic system meant these players missed out on domestic and international events summer after summer..

I have no great affinity to any rating, but hopeful that the incoming WTN will be more accurate than the domestic system weve had to endure the last 15 years. I am also hopeful that this will signal a positive change in competitive culture, and we will get away from the rating/ranking being the competition, particularly at the younger age groups - ever hopeful!

I have always looked to adapt the events to improve them. The mixed events are great, particularly at the 6-9 UTR sort of level to give level-based matches, and to ensure that events arent constantly cancelled due to lack of players (particularly a problem on the female side at certain age groups and within certain regions). The one day battles and shootouts are very much geared towards this. However, my experience has taught me that above the 9.0 UTR level, the cross gender element does not work as well, there tend to be more mismatches and this was putting some female players off - hence the decision to split some of the draws. I fundamentally want their to be equal earning opportunities on both sides, and make the events equally as attractive on both the mens and womens side.

This week and next week see a strong cohort in the mens and womens draws, with another £5k event this week and a £10k showcase event next week. You can see all forthcoming Progress Tour events here - www.theprogresstour.com
                                             -

 Its great to have a viable alternative to the LTA a tournaments, especially as you say for players who have been away at college. Having prize money is fantastic   Players have commented they like the level based and progressive format. Also that its good to be able to play more than one match if you lose your first match (play back matches); unlike Brit tours where players may have travelled for hours, paid to stay in a hotel and been knocked out in their first matchAlso the opportunity to play doubles (unfortunately you had to cancel due to Corona rules) as the seems to be a lack of doubles at the LTA Brit tours etc.

I have never been a fan of UTR, especially the idea that a women and a man with the same UTR are level and the fact that they harvest data for free and then charge to fully access it. I dont think the male//female idea of level based play was data driven and still dont think theres enough data between groups (eg college men playing college women or high school boys playing senior women) to prove the concept. Within groups eg college men playing college men I think UTR aid more reliable. Interesting to see how the WTN works out.

Its really encouraging  to see that you are using it as an agile system and have adapted the UTR concept so that its fairer for women above UTR 9!

One final point is that many players are still not aware of these events (even some whove played in previous events) - not sure what social media sites you are on?  Or if you keep the email addresses of previous participants (may have to get permission due to data protection?). 

Coup Droit wrote:

---

Finals day at Redhill Progress Tour

Anna Brogan Vs Sonay Kartal

Marshall Tutu Vs Toby Samuel

£1000 Winner Vs £500 Runner-Up


AND congrats to the winners !

Sonay Kartal and Toby Samuel

pbs.twimg.com/media/E41DVC4XwAATU6o

---

 In a repeat of last week's event , Toby Samuel and Sonay Kartal win the Men's and Women's titles respectively at the Progress Tour Showcase event that concluded today at Sutton. The prize pot was double that of last week, with the winner taking away £2000 and the runner up £1000.