There\u2019s a three-letter acronym that haunts every tennis player. It\u2019s the be-all-end-all of college recruitment and even college rankings. One little number that defines each player, putting them into a neat category for coaches, opponents and ITA rankings.<\/p>\n
UTR, or Universal Tennis Rating, is a 16-point rating system used to gauge skill in tennis players all the way from juniors to the pros. And Cal freshman Winston Lee has his sights set on that lucky thirteen popping up next to his name.<\/p>\n
Lee began playing tennis at 6 years old in Korea before moving to California. He chose UC Berkeley for a multitude of reasons: the stellar academics, the high-level tennis and his teammates. On the tennis side, Lee set quite the goal for himself: a 13 UTR.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s chosen to document that journey on Instagram through a dedicated account. On his account @wl_day1, Lee posts his daily workouts, match results and overall life as a Division 1 tennis player.<\/p>\n
From team Hawaii trip vlogs to interviews with his fellow teammates and practice matches, @wl_day1 is a peak into life as a Cal student athlete.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy old tutor basically suggested (that I) start an Instagram channel,\u201d Lee said. \u201cNot like, \u2018Road to 13,\u2019 but just Instagram in general \u2026 I thought Road to 13 would be a good idea to start to gain (an) audience.\u201d<\/p>\n
The account has brought him more than an audience. It\u2019s helping him visualize exactly what needs to change in his game \u2014 which, according to him, relies on volleying and shot depth.<\/p>\n
\u201cI definitely have to hit deeper. Like, 20% harder than what I\u2019m hitting right now. When I have an opportunity to put the ball away or punish the opponent, I have to do it,\u201d Lee said of his current game.<\/p>\n
Sophomore teammate and close friend Paris Pouatcha is a big fan of the Road to 13 process. He\u2019s got an idea on how Lee can capitalize on those in-match opportunities.<\/p>\n
\u201cEveryone falls victim to this, but (sometimes) he might be practicing without a purpose,\u201d Pouatcha said. \u201cSo when he goes into matches, it\u2019s not easy to replicate what he\u2019s working on in practice.\u201d<\/p>\n
That\u2019s not to say the numbers aren\u2019t ticking up. Lee\u2019s been inching closer to that 13, but recently it\u2019s been slipping away. After starting the account, Lee\u2019s number started rising quicker. The closer he got, however, the more nervous he played, and the longer it took to hit that goal.<\/p>\n
To combat that, Lee is thinking of raising the bar to 13.5, to keep the anxiety away from that elusive number 13. He\u2019s also leaning into a second new tactic \u2014 deleting that nagging UTR app altogether.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s one step closer to the realization every tennis player has to eventually come to: that number is a goal and a marker, but not a definition. It\u2019s not a descriptor.<\/p>\n
Still, Pouatcha has a lot of descriptors for Lee.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s one of the most exuberant people on the team,\u201d Pouatcha said. \u201cHe has a very big personality, which I think is very important for tennis. On and off the court, he\u2019s himself, and he doesn\u2019t really care about what people think about what he\u2019s doing \u2026 slowly, I think every match, he\u2019s learning his identity more and more.\u201d<\/p>\n
As a result of this, Lee\u2019s Instagram content has shifted away from his classic \u201cRoad to 13\u201d intro. He spends more time talking about \u201cbetter tennis\u201d rather than a specific number. Some videos don\u2019t feature him at all, instead focussing on his teammates and their individual wins, such as Munk Mesa\u2019s first ranked victory. He\u2019s clipping together scenes from pickleball practices, crazy match points, and behind-the-scenes workouts.<\/p>\n
Even off the court, Lee stands out at Hellman Tennis Complex. On the days where he\u2019s not written into the lineup, he\u2019s stationed on the closest empty court, cheering loudly for a fellow Bears\u2019 perfect drop volley or down-the-line forehand. His team presence goes far beyond what one simple number or Instagram account can detail.<\/p>\n
This isn\u2019t to say Lee\u2019s game has fallen behind. His UTR is sitting at a solid 12.7, and he\u2019s logged more than 30 collegiate wins as a freshman. The Bears also recently qualified for the NCAA tournament after reaching the quarterfinals of the ACC championships.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s plenty of chances left for Lee to hit his goal. But through trying to climb the UTR ranks, perhaps he\u2019s found something more important than that elusive 13 UTR: a voice, a style of play and a group of teammates who cheer him on no matter what number sits next to his name.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There\u2019s a three-letter acronym that haunts every tennis player. It\u2019s the be-all-end-all of college recruitment and even college…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":640998,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[442],"tags":[210994,49,210993,48,210995,82,593,210999],"class_list":["post-640997","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tennis","tag-bernardo-munk-mesa","tag-ca","tag-cal-mens-tennis","tag-canada","tag-paris-pouatcha","tag-sports","tag-tennis","tag-winston-lee"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/640997","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=640997"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/640997\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/640998"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=640997"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=640997"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=640997"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}