CHANHASSEN, Minn., Nov. 13, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Ajay Pant, the National Tennis Director at Life Time and one of only a handful of master professionals in the world, has been awarded the prestigious Alex Gordon Tennis Professional of the Year Award by the United States Professional Tennis Association (USPTA). This top USPTA annual award goes to a member demonstrating excellence in growing the sport, volunteerism, coaching achievements and career development.

Under Pant's leadership, Life Time, the premier healthy lifestyle brand, will have more than 340 tennis courts by the end of 2019, a 34% increase from 2017. The company employs 320 tennis professionals at more than 30 of its athletic resorts and serves 16,000 tennis participants on average every month, making it one of the largest tennis providers in the United States.

"I'm incredibly honored to receive this award from the USPTA, with which I've been a member for 24 years," Pant said. "My work at Life Time is aimed at helping more people develop a love and passion for tennis. We're seeing that work come to life and it's great to see this award affirm what we're doing to grow the sport."

Pant helped Life Time develop two programs to promote tennis participation when he joined the company in 2017, Play Learn Love® for adults and SMART for juniors, which focuses on long-term athlete development. Both programs have grown their player counts by 13.8% and 59.2% respectively this year. He also recently oversaw a new partnership between Life Time and the United States Tennis Association (USTA), the governing body of tennis in the United States, giving more learning and coaching tools to Life Time Tennis instructors and players.

"Ajay is what I call a complete professional and an expert in the industry. In addition to his key role in USPTA's Leadership Academy, he has also designed a specialty course on management," USPTA incoming President, Feisal Hassan, said.

Pant is also an ambassador for USTA's Net Generation initiative and serves on the Board of Directors for the Tennis Industry Association. Pant is a frequent speaker at many industry and USPTA regional and national conventions, including the USPTA Leadership Academy.

About Life Time^® – Healthy Way of Life

Life Time champions a healthy and happy life for its members across 147 destinations in 40 major markets in the U.S. and Canada. As the nation's only Healthy Way of Life brand, Life Time delivers an unmatched athletic resort experience and provides a comprehensive healthy living, healthy aging and healthy entertainment experience that goes well beyond fitness to encompass the entire spectrum of daily life for individuals, couples and families of all ages. For more information visit www.lifetime.life.

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SOURCE Life Time, Inc.