Fiend at Court Unplugged
Earlier this week, a player posted an image of a flyer that was included in the tournament packets at the Texas Master’s Championships. That one sheet of paper illuminates what is likely to be imminently forthcoming once the full tournament calendar for the Texas Section is announced. The flyer reveals the apparent plan for continuation of NTRP Mixed Doubles in Texas. It also provides an early look at how the existing tournament structure will be slotted into the USTA consolidated framework in 2021.
Sanctioned Events will give points towards Masters and National Ranking. Non-Sanctioned Events will give points only toward Masters.
Excerpt from Flyer in 2020 Masters Player Packets
I am surprised, happy, and relieved to read that statement. This means that there will most certainly be Mixed Doubles at the NTRP tournaments in Texas that will culminate in qualification for competition at the Masters. The inclusion of that fact prompted me to scour the USTA National Site to review the Adult Tournament information and FAQ for the current version of the language describing the new framework.
In a rare feat of digital housekeeping, it looks like the USTA did a pretty good job scrubbing the language that Sections cannot maintain their own rankings lists off their public facing web pages. I believe that either reflects either a change in policy toward Mixed Doubles or perhaps the original statements were incorrect. In either case, assuming that NTRP Mixed Doubles proceeds as an unsanctioned division is an extremely positive development.
The USTA philosophy around growing the game at the grassroots level is centered on the fact that organizers at the local levels are best equipped to grow the game. In a way, permitting Mixed Doubles to proceed at either the local or the Sectional level is evidence of commitment to that idea. In this particular situation, it does not make sense to eliminate a popular event that draws players to tournaments.
Based on the fact that the Polar Bear and Sun Burned Major Zone tournaments are advertised as “Level 5” tournaments in the flyer suggests that all the Major Zones are also likely to slot in at that level. Elsewhere in the flyer, the 2021 Masters is marked as a Level 4 tournament. It seems highly likely that Texas Sectionals will also be Level 4. The flyer basically confirms the levels for these tournaments that was assumed to be the case.
The Major Zone tournaments also reflect a mix of Open and NTRP level divisions at the same event. This is contrary to what was initially communicated by the USTA which indicated that no Open events would be offered at NTRP tournaments. It is not clear what the current policy is, but either the position has changed or tournament organizers will essentially run two parallel events at the same time and venue.
In what may be an error, there is no indication that 5.0 events will be offered at Polar Bear and Sun Burned Major Zone tournaments in 2021. While the senior NTPR 5.0 divisions are not sanctioned by the USTA, it had been the expectation that 18+ 5.0 would still be offered at tournaments. This may be a largely academic distinction that only impacts a handful of players in Texas. Also curious is the fact that 18+ 5.0 as well as the unsanctioned Mixed 5.0 was included in the 18+ Masters which will be held in Austin.
Finally, the flyer also revealed that there will be a separate Masters for 40+ and 55+ and that those events will be conducted separately in San Antonio. A cool idea would be to combine that with a Senior Age Group Masters at those two specific age levels at the same time. That may be a bridge too far, however.
The qualification period for the 18+ Masters starts in January 1 on this year and runs through 6 September. This probably is a pretty good indication that Texas Adult Sectionals will be the first weekend in September. That abbreviated qualification window is most likely a temporary artifact in 2021 due to the rollover of the National points system. The qualification period for the 40+ and the 55+ Masters is apparently still TBD.
In any case, for the first time since the initial USTA webinar that announced on the upcoming changes for 2021 was issued, I have cause for optimism. Some of the most concerning things that were initially stated have either been walked back or were stated in error. It is a distinction that does not matter.
In a way, it is like we got into a time machine and went back to the way the Masters was conducted before the USTA decided to bifurcate NTRP tournament levels with the addition of 55+ brackets. I will always regard the 18+ event in Austin in conjunction with the Open divisions as the “True” Masters.
