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May 28, 2019

CT Open’s Worcester finds a new match

By Michael C. Bingham

Anne Worcester, tournament director of New Haven’s Connecticut Open tennis tournament for two decades, has a new job.

Worcester has joined the San Francisco-based Universal Tennis as its president, it was announced Tuesday.

HBJ PHOTO | John Stearns
Anne Worcester

Worcester will be charged with overseeing the growth and development of Universal Tennis worldwide, according to the company. Her focus will be on increasing grassroots efforts to connect communities to the sport and fostering partnerships within the tennis community to build participation on the company’s digital platform.

The mission of Universal Tennis is to make tennis more affordable and accessible for players, regardless of age, gender and socioeconomic status. The company has created a Universal Tennis Rating (UTR) for tennis players to reflect their current skill level on a 16-point scale based on actual performance in recent competition.

The platform enables tennis organizers to run open level-based events and offers players the ability to connect and discover events, players, coaches, clubs and tournaments worldwide.

"What drew me to Universal Tennis is its digitally savvy approach to make tennis more affordable, accessible and fun for all players," said Worcester in an announcement. "Level-based play helps to break down some of the biggest barriers to our sport, so that it's not about age, gender, where you play or how much you can afford. UTR makes it easy to find, connect and play with same level tennis partners, anytime and anywhere. This addresses many of the challenges I have experienced all my life as a recreational player, a parent and in 35 years on all sides of professional tennis."

The UTR rating system is the foundation of Universal Tennis, and unlike the U.S Tennis Association rating system commonly used in this country, the UTR system is universal and already used in some 200 countries, Worcester said. This allows, for example, a college coach at a school like Yale to see where a junior player in, say, Romania, stacks up against the competition, she explained.

Universal Tennis' revenue model is based on selling premium subscriptions (for $99 annually; basic registration is free) and services both to individual players as well as organizational members such as clubs and schools. Worcester said there are 1 million players already using the UTR platform, and 11 million match results already posted on the site.

Worcester came to New Haven in 1998 as tournament director for the event then known as the Pilot Pen Tennis Tournament. Before that she was the first female CEO of the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA).

Earlier this year, in the absence of securing a major financial commitment from a sponsor, the Connecticut Open’s sanction was sold to a group that would move the tournament to Zhengzhou City, China.

"Anne has an exceptional career in tennis, marked by her commitment to improving the game for players and serving as a champion for tennis worldwide. Her dedication to the betterment and growth of the sport is unparalleled," said Mark Leschly, Universal Tennis’ chairman and CEO. "Anne is fully aligned with UTR's mission and vision to create more opportunities and open pathways for players of all levels to grow the game. We are thrilled to have Anne on board."

Staying in Connecticut

While her new employer is headquartered in the Bay Area, Worcester will be based in Connecticut (she lives in New Canaan) and New York City.

Worcester was also executive director and chief marketing officer of Market New Haven, a public/private partnership between the city of New Haven, Yale University, Yale New Haven Health System and the business community to market the city and its attractions to potential visitors and businesses.

In stepping down from that position, “I told the mayor and Yale and the hospital that I will absolutely be a part of the Market New Haven transition,” Worcester said. “I am super-proud of where we’re leaving Market New Haven. Our work plan has gone from three concerts and one holiday [marketing] campaign in 2004 to a year-round coordinated marketing and communications [campaign] now. I feel great that I’m leaving Market New Haven in a very good place.”

In a statement, the Market New Haven board of directors thanked Worcester for 15 years of “steadfast leadership that helped Market New Haven further its mission of generating economic activity through promotion of the city’s vibrant dining, shopping, arts and culture scenes as well as our thriving business, education and residential attributes.”

“I plan to stay involved in New Haven,” Worcester said, “which is near and dear to my heart.”

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1 Comments

Anonymous
June 4, 2019

Anne Worcester ran the New Haven tournament into the ground. No one in media or tennis biz want to say that. A perfect tennis venue is vacant because Worcester didn't do her job in promoting the tournament properly. For years it ran and ran well. Was selling the men's event a good idea? Of course not. "Come and see some of the greatest tennis players in the world before they go to the Open! Up close and personal, right here in New Haven!"
How tough would that promo have been? A perfect summer night, 3 of the top 4 women in the world and maybe 4,000 in the stands? What's wrong with that picture? Horrible job at promoting great tennis. Let her nowhere near next New Haven tennis venture. Please.

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