HOW IT WORKS
The Ulster Tennis Points Tour (UTP Tour) is the ranking system for junior players in Ulster which has been operating since the start of the 2007-2008 season.
ELIGIBILTY
The UTP Tour is only for players who are members of affiliated Ulster Clubs and eligible to represent Ulster.
ULSTER RANKINGS
Each eligible tournament will receive points towards an Ulster Ranking dependent on the quality of the field. The top 6 scores for each player will count towards an Ulster Ranking.
ELIGIBLE TOURNAMENTS
NOTE: Tournaments which do not comply with Tennis Ireland and Ulster Tennis rules regarding the operation of tournaments may have UTP ranking points withheld from the tournament.
The following junior tournaments will be eligible to receive ranking points:
- All official Tennis Ireland tournaments which are held in Ulster and which appear in the Ulster tournament calendar
- The following official Tennis Ireland tournaments which are held outside Ulster:
- National Indoor Championships
- National Spring Championships
- Templeogue Junior Open
- Malahide Junior Open
- Munster Junior Open
- Leinster Junior Open
- Connacht Junior Open
- Irish National Closed Championships
- Irish Junior Open
- National and International events – official International Tennis Federation (ITF), Tennis Europe (ETA) and Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) events where results are notified as per the defined notification process.
NOTIFICATION PROCESS
Results from certain tournaments must be notified within 3 days of the tournaments completing by sending an email to jdc@ulstertennis.co.uk including details of the tournament and a link to the draw.
- Tennis Ireland tournaments held in Ulster do not require notification and points will be updated automatically
- National and International events outside Ireland require notification.
UTP MASTERS RACE
At the end of the season the top 8 players in each age group will qualify for the UTP Masters tournament which, if run, may be held over a single day. All tournaments will count towards the Masters Race however in order to qualify for the UTP Masters event players must have taken part in at least 1 Ulster tournament.
Points will be awarded for the Masters Event which will be the final ranking event of the season. The points available for the masters will be as follows:
| FINISHING POSITION | Points |
Winner |
1600 |
Runner Up |
1120 |
2nd in Group |
640 |
| 3rd in Group | 240 |
| 4th in Group | 160 |
(Note: See point 3 under Walkovers and Seeds below)
INTERPROVINCIAL SELECTION
The Under 14 and Under 18 interprovincial teams will consist of the top 4 ranked players in the UTP race at the end of the last qualifying tournament plus 1 wild card selected by the selection committee. The wild card position is not necessarily awarded to the player finishing in the next qualifying position in the UTP rankings.
Under normal circumstances, in order to be eligible for selection on an Ulster Interprovincial team, players must play a minimum of three Ulster junior tournaments taking place during the calendar year of the Interprovincials. At least one of these tournaments must be a summer tournament, i.e. take place after 31st May of that year. International tournaments held in Ulster (e.g. Belfast City ITF Tournament) WILL count as Ulster tournaments.
THE POINTS
1. Each ranking event within a tournament has a UTP count which is based on the size and strength of the draw. This is done by giving the top 12 ranked players in the age group at the start of the season points as follows:
| ULSTER RANKING | Points |
1 or 2 |
3 |
3 - 6 |
2 |
7 - 12 |
1 |
These points are used to calculate the UTP Count for the tournament.
2. This is then added to the points below depending on the size of the draw to give the total UTP Count for the event:
| No Of Entries | Points |
1-8 |
0 |
9-16 |
1 |
17-32 |
2 |
33-64 |
3 |
65-128 |
4 |
Example: A tournament with a draw of 27 players and including the number 1, 4, 5, 8, 9 and 11 Ulster ranked players would have a UTP Count of 13 as follows: the no 1 ranked player is 3 points, no 4 & 5 is 2 points and no 8, 9 & 11 are 1 point each. Therefore UTP Count so far is 3+2+2+1+1+1 = 10. As there are 27 players in the draw there are 2 extra points. This gives an overall UTP Count for this event of 10 + 2 = 12.
3. The points that a player will get from the tournament will depend on where he or she finished in the tournament and on the number of players in the event. Points are awarded as follows:
No. Of Players |
< 4 | 5 - 8 | 9 - 16 | 17 - 32 | 33 - 64 | 65 - 128 | |
| FINISH POSTION |
Winner |
100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 |
Runner up |
70 | 70 | 70 | 70 | 70 | 70 | |
Semi Finalist |
2 | 20 | 25 | 40 | 40 | 40 | |
Quarter Finalist |
2 | 5 | 10 | 15 | 25 | ||
Last 16 |
2 | 5 | 10 | 15 | |||
Last 32 |
2 | 5 | 10 | ||||
Last 64 |
2 | 5 | |||||
Last 128 |
2 | ||||||
Please note that it is the number of players in the draw and not the size of the draw.
Everyone entering an event will automatically receive 10 points for entry. This will be added to the overall points which have been calculated from the UTP count and the finishing positions table above. (See below for an example)
4. The Ranking points for the player are then decided by multiplying the UTP Count by the finishing position points and adding it to the 10 points awarded for entry.
Example: a losing semi finalist in the example above would receive 40 (Semi finalist points in 17-32 players range) x 12 (UTP Count)= 480 points + 10 points for entry giving a final points total of 490.
5. In order to receive points you must win a match in the draw. Players who do not win a match will get a nominal 1 point which is then multiplied by the UTP Count and then added to the 10 points for entry. Therefore if the draw has 24 players only players who have won a match to get to the Last 32 will get 2 x UTP Count of 5
Example: A player who does not win a match in an event with a UTP count of 5 and with 24 players will receive 1 x UTP count of 5 = 5 points + the 10 points for entry giving a total of 15 points.
6. Matchplays will receive points as follows:
Regional Matchplays only:
All regional matchplays will have a UTP count of 2 and will carry the following points which will be multiplied by the UTP Count (2) in the usual way + 10 points for entry (as in point 3 above) meaning for example the winner will get 210 points.
No. Of Players |
ANY | |
| FINISH POSTION |
Winner | 100 |
| Runner Up | 70 | |
| 3rd | 30 | |
| 4th | 20 | |
| 5th | 10 | |
| 6th | 8 | |
| 7th | 6 | |
| 8th | 4 | |
| 9th - 16th | 2 | |
Provincial Matchplays only:
No. Of Players |
<= 4 | 5 - 8 | 9 - 16 | |
| FINISH POSTION |
Winner |
100 | 100 | 100 |
Runner up |
70 | 70 | 70 | |
| 3rd | 25 | 30 | 50 | |
| 4th | 1 | 20 | 30 | |
| 5th | 10 | 20 | ||
| 6th | 8 | 16 | ||
| 7th | 6 | 12 | ||
| 8th | 1 | 10 | ||
| 9th | 8 | |||
| 10th | 7 | |||
| 11th | 6 | |||
| 12th | 5 | |||
| 13th | 4 | |||
| 14th | 3 | |||
| 15th | 2 | |||
| 16th | 1 | |||
National Matchplays only:
No. Of Players |
<= 8 | 9 - 12 | 13 - 16 | |
| FINISH POSTION |
Winner |
100 | 100 | 100 |
Runner up |
70 | 70 | 70 | |
| 3rd | 45 | 50 | 60 | |
| 4th | 30 | 40 | 55 | |
| 5th | 20 | 35 | 50 | |
| 6th | 15 | 25 | 45 | |
| 7th | 8 | 15 | 40 | |
| 8th | 1 | 10 | 30 | |
| 9th | 8 | 20 | ||
| 10th | 6 | 15 | ||
| 11th | 4 | 12 | ||
| 12th | 1 | 10 | ||
| 13th | 8 | |||
| 14th | 6 | |||
| 15th | 4 | |||
| 16th | 1 | |||
These points will then be multiplied by the UTP count as usual and added to the 10 points for entry. Please also note that point 5 above still applies - players who do not win a match will get a nominal 1 point which is then multiplied by the UTP Count and added to the 10 points for entry.
7. Regional matchplays: In the event of there being only 1 entrant to a regional matchplay the event will still have a fixed UTP count of 2 and the sole entrant will receive the winners points of 100 x UTP count of 2 = 200 + the 10 points for entry giving a total of 210 points.
8. Players who are exempt from a particular age group in the Regional matchplays will receive winner’s points for a Regional matchplay as long as they enter the Provincial matchplay in the same age group, i.e. 100 x UTP count of 2 = 200 + the 10 points for entry giving a total of 210 points.
9. Withdrawals: If a player withdraws from the tournament without starting their first match and he/she contributes to the UTP Count then their points will be removed from the UTP count for that event. This will be the case even where the event has started but the player concerned is seeded and therefore forward in the draw.
WALKOVERS & SEEDS
1. If you recieve a walk over you will be awarded the same number of points as would have been awarded had you played and won the match.
2. If you give a walk over in an event you are unable to compete in any further matches scheduled for that day.
3. Any player giving a walk over or being scratched from a match by the referee during the Masters will be out of the event completely and will not recieve any ranking points for the event. If this occurs in the group stages of the event then none of the scores from any previous matches will be used.
4. If you are a seeded player in a rated draw and lose your first match you will receive points as if you had lost in the previous round. This is therefore an exception to point 5 above.
5. Any player withdrawing from a tournament match at less than one hour's notice will be penalised with the loss of 100 points.
QUALIFYING DRAWS
- For Tennis Ireland tournaments held outside Ulster, where there is a qualification draw, no points will be allocated for players losing in qualifying, only for main draw results.
- For Tennis Ireland tournaments outside of Ulster where there is a qualification draw, players losing in the first round of the main draw will receive the points allocated for losing in the last round of qualifying (i.e. the previous round), rather than entry points. This will apply regardless of whether the player came through the qualification draw or whether they were placed directly into the main draw. This is a further exception to point 5 in section “THE POINTS” above.
- For National and International (ITF/ETA/LTA) events, points will only be allocated for qualification draws if a player wins (or receives a walkover in) at least one match. No points will be allocated if a player loses their first match in qualifying.
MISCELLANEOUS
- The top 12 ranking players which is used to calculate the UTP Count will be based on the top 12 from the previous year's Ulster Ranking who are still in the age group.
- Players from outside Ulster who compete in Ulster Tournaments will be given a points score for the tournament based on how the UTP Subcommittee think he/she would fare against their respective Ulster peers. This score can go as high as 5 for a player who is significantly better than the Ulster players in that age group.
- Events which are qualification events for another event can only be scored once for the UTP Ranking system. Therefore during Regional, Provincial and National matchplays only the best score can count towards the UTP Ranking. Example: If a player scores 220 for regional, 420 for provincial and 320 for National matchplays only the best score of 420 will count towards their UTP Ranking.
- Consolation, novice and doubles events will not count towards the UTP Race.
- International Junior Events run by Tennis Europe and the International Tennis Federation will get bonus multipliers as follows:
TENNIS EUROPE |
MULTIPLIER |
| Grade 3 Qualifying | 2 |
| Grade 2 Qualifying | 3 |
| Grade 1 Qualifying | 4 |
| Grade 3 Main Draw | 6 |
| Grade 2 Main Draw | 8 |
| Grade 1 Main Draw | 10 |
ITF |
MULTIPLIER |
| Grade 4 & 5 Qualifying | 2 |
| Grade 2 & 3 Qualifying | 3 |
| Grade 1 Qualifying | 4 |
| Grade 4 & 5 Main Draw | 6 |
| Grade 2 & 3 Main Draw | 8 |
| Grade 1 Main Draw | 10 |