How the UTR Pro Tennis Tour paved Destanee Aiava’s path to success

Australian Destanee Aiava (UTR Rating 11.89) broke through at the 2025 Australian Open, earning her first Grand Slam main-draw match win. Before she shined in the Melbourne spotlight, for years, Aiava, like thousands of women’s tennis players, honed her game on the UTR Pro Tennis Tour (PTT).

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Created by UTR Sports, the PTT is the go-to tour for rising professional tennis players, hosting hundreds of $25K events and more than 20,000 matches worldwide each year.

Aiava and players everywhere are drawn to the PTT’s unique format: three to five guaranteed matches, better prize money, and more earning opportunities with the new PTT Tour Card. That guaranteed matchplay and money helps players become “match-tough” and further fund their pro tennis careers, pushing them to reach the Top 200 and beyond.

“The UTR Pro Tennis Tour events are really great to add to my schedule when match play is needed. But they also provide amazing prize money for all rounds of the event, which is crucial to be able to support my tennis,” Aiava, a four-time PTT champion, said.

The new PTT Tour Card makes it easier for players to get more matchplay and earn more money. Players who compete in at least two tournaments earn $500 in free Power Subscription analytics and gear, while the first players to compete in four tournaments will earn $750. Through a yearlong points race, top performers in each gender are set to make $10,000.

Spain’s Aran Teixido Garcia is currently eighth in the PTT Points Race after winning her first PTT title last month. “It just makes the process of transitioning into professional tennis so much easier,” she said of the PTT.

In addition to helping top pro women’s tennis players such as Aiava, PTT events provide avenues for women college tennis players, including Carolyn Ansari (UTR Rating 10.52) and Gabriela Knutson (UTR Rating 11.39), to start to build their pro tennis careers.

“I love playing UTR PTT events. I feel very match fit and match tough when it comes to playing PTTs. You can practice all day, but if you can’t replicate it over and over again in a pressurized setting, it won’t help you,” said Ansari, who played collegiate tennis at Auburn University. “You get unreal prize money for competing, so it helps a ton with traveling.”

Knutson built her career, and her confidence, on the PTT. “The UTR PTTs helped me discover my tennis potential,” she said. “The tournaments gave me the opportunity to play many matches, learn my level, and explore my game.”

Knutson was a two-time All-American at Syracuse University and won her first PTT title in 2021 in Bulgaria. Now she’s nearing the Top 200 of the WTA Rankings and looking to set a new career-high ranking this year.

“Without [PTT tournaments], I would have never got the courage to go pro after university,” Knutson said.

Ukraine’s Yuliia Starodubtseva is No. 109 in the WTA Rankings and played in front of big crowds at the 2025 Australian Open, falling in the first round to 2021 US Open finalist Leylah Fernandez. Yet years earlier, Starodubtseva also enjoyed career-changing experiences on the PTT, winning her first pro tennis title on the PTT in 2023.

“UTR Pro Tennis Tour events are something that really helped me to get started on the pro tour,” she said. “[The] events offer good prize money for the players and many great matches to play. It is a unique and extremely helpful organization for the tennis players.”