USTA again convenes tech startups, investors around US Open

The USTA held its third annual “USTA Connect” conference at the U.S. Open Thursday evening. The event drew more than 120 attendees ranging from racket sports technology vendors to venture capitalists to startups, including portfolio companies of the USTA’s investment arm, USTA Ventures, which added stakes in Rec and Fastbreak AI in the past year.

USTA Connect is the name of a data-sharing program operated by the USTA that either links tennis technology companies with the USTA (for data that can augment their product), or each other (for potential collaborations), depending on need. Michael Hughes, the USTA’s senior director of digital strategy and business development, said the program and connected event are designed to grow the tennis industry through organic integrations, partnerships and investments.

“Everybody converges on New York during the [U.S.] Open. This is the easiest place to get everybody in the room who should be talking to one another,” Hughes said. “We absolutely see this evolving and continuing to get larger.”

As part of this year’s conference -- and also folding under that wider growth strategy -- the USTA announced the winner of its inaugural startup pitch competition, the “USTA Connect Innovation Challenge.” The competition attracted about 125 applicants but was whittled down to three finalists ahead of the 2026 U.S. Open:

Third Court took home first place and a $10,000 prize check, while Tennis Oasis (with the USTA’s Mid-Atlantic Section) and HapticNav (with the U.S. Open) will work on pilots with different USTA factions in the future.