Anne Worcester

Anne Worcester is currently a Strategic Advisor to Major League Pickleball (MLP) and Dynamic Universal Pickleball Rating (DUPR), where she sits on the board and is instrumental in growing the start-up league and technology arm in all areas including owner relations, sponsorship, marketing, communications and event operations.

She has spent nearly 40 years helping to grow the sport of professional tennis on a global scale and impacting every facet of the sport’s business, from players to tournaments to sponsors to governing bodies.  A former CEO of the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA), the world’s preeminent sporting circuit for women, Worcester was the first woman – and youngest person – to lead any major professional sports organization when she was named CEO at age 34.  Previously, she also served as Managing Director of the Women’s International Professional Tennis Council, the then-governing body of women’s pro tennis.  

In her role as President of Universal Tennis, she was instrumental in growing the sport by connecting players globally through level-based play, innovative events, and a digital marketplace.

For over 20 years, she served as the Tournament Director of the Connecticut Open, developing the WTA and ATP tournament into one of the world’s best attended WTA events, a player favorite, and a leading example of leveraging a large-scale international sporting event to build community tennis, especially in the inner city.  

Worcester also worked in wide-ranging roles across tennis from Sales and Marketing at US tennis events for Endeavor/IMG (1983-1987) to Tournament Director of tennis events in Spain (1987) to Director of Worldwide Operations for Virginia Slims Tennis (1988-1991).

Anne is a graduate of Duke University, a co-founder and board member of New Haven Youth Tennis & Education (New HYTES) and serves on the board of the Tennis Foundation of Connecticut.