college tennis

by: Mike / TennisCT

Besides this page, the two most helpful and reputable sources for information about college tennis are:

College Tennis Online: a terrific guide to all divisions of college tennis with helpful articles about balancing the rigors of tennis and academics.

USTA: a comprehensive guide with helpful links and tips for college athletes and prospects.

Many of the other outlets on the internet claim to be a voice for college tennis, but be careful who you listen to. Some websites or organizations are run or led by people who don’t know a thing about college tennis and never even played it.

We do and we have. We hope you’ll continue reading below.

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I loved college tennis. It was the best four years of my competitive, tennis-playing life and that includes life on the ATP Tour eventually. As a kid, college tennis began as something aspirational because it sounded cool and I thought I would enjoy the team aspect of an otherwise individual sport. The goal only became clearer as I started playing more tournaments and realized that I might be able to play tennis somewhere in college. Then, the random letters started arriving at my house, and I started to do some research. Like I said, as a kid I only knew that I wanted to play college tennis somewhere, and that I was pretty sure I could.

For most juniors, playing collegiate-level tennis is a lofty goal but one that can be attainable. It’s a balance, right? Do you reach for a school that has a better tennis team where you would be a walk-on or in the lower half of the lineup? Do you use your tennis skill to get into a school that’s better academically than you otherwise could have attended? Do you choose a small school that plays a regional schedule? Do you go “big”?

There’s a right fit for anyone who wants to play college tennis. It’s just a question of your interest level and being smart about how you approach it. Even though tennis is a minor (read: not a revenue-producing) sport, scholarships are likewise out there in some form.

Let us help guide you through some of the process by providing tips for success as you start thinking about colleges, and as you head off to school.

Who hasn't asked the question before:

"Am I good enough to play college tennis and which school or coach should I contact?"

Unless you have ATP points or are one of the top juniors in the ITF rankings, you may not be sure whether coaches would be interested in you. In the old days, International students had a tough time evaluating their chances since there was no way of comparing a player from Croatia for instance to a national player from the United States. Due to the differences in the depth of players between countries, national rankings are hardly comparable. Universal Tennis ratings have helped this enormously in recent years, which we’ll get into.

Even college coaches themselves struggle with that task of evaluating players and students today. College tennis has gotten increasingly international over the last 25 years, and many coaches still wrestle with the task of identifying one's level of tennis based on their ranking. It is actually pretty impossible to know the level of tennis of every single country on the planet. That's why some countries are represented much more in college tennis than others. Germany is a prime example of a very well-known country. Most college coaches can compare the level of German players to the level of American players. That way they can pretty quickly assess the level of tennis of a German tennis player based on their national ranking. This increases the prospect's chances of getting recruited significantly. No coach likes to take a "leap of faith" when it comes to recruiting. They will always go for the safer bet - the player where they are sure about what his or her level of tennis is.

It isn’t all about tennis, though. Personality fit and academics do matter. No matter what school it is, you have to be able to maintain your grades and fit in with the other kids on the team. I’ve known dozens of great players who went to college and found themselves transferring. When that happens, nine times out of ten, it usually isn’t because of talent on the tennis court.

Even experienced scouts who have helped dozens of athletes get a scholarship can only make an estimated guess. Currently there are 1,600+ college tennis teams, with roughly 9 players per team (on average, this varies when comparing women to men). Can you imagine a single person knowing the level of tennis of those +10,000 tennis players? We can't, and highly doubt anyone is capable of covering a market like that. Especially since the level of tennis of selected teams can change very rapidly. That's why every single scout is in contact with a few selected coaches and has an idea of the level of tennis of some college tennis programs, but definitely not all of them.

All of the above mentioned reasons show that college tennis recruiting has very often been influenced by some level of randomness. In recent decades, unless you were a top recruit with an exceptional junior ranking, you had to be lucky to know the right people, contact the right coaches, or pick the right scout with connections to a suitable team.

Enter the UTR (Universal Tennis Rating).

This is a tool that really has helped redefine college tennis recruiting and is a great platform for comparing skill levels across region and country. The rating system combines all other rankings, within a level system that ranges from 1 to 16, with 16 being the highest. This means that it combines all tennis players, playing certain tournaments, in one ranking. So far every country has had their own national ranking system and still does. Often this leads to issues when comparing players who do not play a lot of international tournaments, since the national rankings of two countries are simply not comparable.

Through UTR's complex algorithm this fact changes though. UTR takes into consideration up to 30 matches that were played over the last year and cross-checks not only the results, but also looks at the competitiveness of the matches played. Depending on these data points it computes a rating for every player.

Implications UTR has for college tennis

This tool is therefore highly important and useful when it comes to college tennis recruiting. Both aspiring international college tennis players as well as college coaches can benefit greatly from the Universal Tennis Rating. It enables every player with a UTR rating to see how his or her level compares to the level of tennis of players on the different teams. In the past, aspiring college tennis players highly underestimated the level of tennis in college, since such a comparison was not possible. College coaches on the other hand have a tool that simplifies their job a lot. Since it is impossible for a coach to know the level of tennis in every single country, it was not possible to compare players with two different nationalities, who did not play international tournaments. Through UTR, every coach can now see within a second how a nationally highly ranked player of Croatia is doing in comparison to a lower ranked player from France.

The remaining question is how you as an aspiring college tennis player can use the Universal Tennis Rating to improve your chance of getting an athletic scholarship.

Identify your UTR

First of all, you need to identify your Universal Tennis Rating. Below your rating you will see the reliability of your rating in percent. This is important because depending on that number, the coach will trust your ranking or not. If you are not at a 100% reliability then you should play some specific tournaments which will help you achieve those 100%.

Find the right universities

The next step is to compare your rating to the ratings of the players on the different teams. You should screen for universities where your UTR is similar to the one of the top six players. Obviously you need to adjust your search depending on your scholarship expectations. Are you looking for a 75% -100% scholarship? Then make sure you look for schools where your UTR is at least as high as the top 3 players - preferably even higher than their #1 player. Once you find those universities make sure to check if they have a senior on their team. Most probably, coaches won't have a scholarship to give away if nobody is graduating the year before you intend to start.

Contact the coach

Lastly, contact the coaches. Make sure to present them the research you have done. In the subject or header of your email message you should state your UTR since this is the very first thing coaches look at. As mentioned in previous articles coaches also look at players' personality and academic achievements, but the very first thing they look at is the athletes' level of tennis. They want to know whether you are good enough to play college tennis and what your spot would be on the team. One particular coach even mentioned that he is looking foremost for players who "get the job done". Obviously not every coach makes such a strong statement, but all of them definitely look at the athlete's level of tennis first. Once they know you would be a good recruit for the team, they look at the other contributing factors such as personality, academics, scholarship expectations, and alike.

For more information on the top things on a college coach’s recruiting checklist, we recommend checking out SmartAthlete’s blog post here. A lot of us at TennisCT have played at the highest levels of collegiate tennis and can vouch for this information, so please feel free to ask more questions at your club of choice.

“So no coaches know me? I have to be the one to contact them?”

Yes, it helps if you show interest to a coaching staff. You’re not showing your hand or looking too desperate if you do. You will likely have to make contact with the coaching staff early in the process so they can watch and follow your development. If you’re playing USTA tournaments or Universal Tennis events, coaches know you. Don’t worry about that, trust me. It’s getting on their radar early and showing them you might have the desire to join their team and school. Also, you should know, there are restrictions made by the NCAA about how much contact coaches can have with you, so don’t worry if it seems like no one knows you or is talking to you. If you show interest in a team, and keep focusing on your development as a tennis player, the planets will align for you.

Final word about college tennis

A very small percentage of student-athletes will turn pro when they graduate. That percentage is way, way, way under 1%. The most successful players enter school with an open mind, strong work ethic, and a desire to make lifelong friends with teammates and coaches. Academics are important. Personality fit is important. The school itself is important. Once you decide upon a school, then you have the challenge of playing a varsity-level sport with the same coursework and studying demands placed upon the rest of the school population. It becomes a balancing act but one that’s so worth it. Email us if you have any questions at all about playing college tennis.