Age-Based Appeals in 2023

The 2023 USTA League Regulations claim that new age-based appeal options have been approved. However, a close examination of the change-marked “updates” in those sections is that the majority were already in place in 2022. The only modification that I see is Regulation 2.05E which is now titled “Promotion of Players 60 or Over.” That section previously read “Age-Related Appeals of Players 60 or Over” last year.

The word “Promotion” is apparently the USTA’s new preferred term for NTRP rating bump-ups. It is psychologically more positive and arguably more accurate as well. The excess change markings in the draft 2023 regulations might be an editing mistake. Perhaps this will be corrected by the time the official version of the document is released.

The 2020 NTRP “Gap” Impacts Age-Based Appeals

At the National Grass Court Championships a couple of weeks ago, a 63-year-old player (per her ITF profile) told me that her age-based appeal was denied for 2023. It is an interesting story and another example of the ripple-down effects of the USTA’s decision to withhold NTRP rating updates in 2020.

I previously wrote about issues with that decision in “League Captain Alert: NTRP Computer Ratings Expirations.” Essentially computer-rated players who returned to tennis in 2020 after sitting out in 2018 and 2019, experienced rating expirations even though they played matches.

Here is a quick excerpt of the age-based appeal regulation that applies in this situation.

Any player who is 60 to 64 years of age or older prior to, or during, the calendar year in which such player plays his or her first local league match and has achieved the same rating level or lower for his or her three most recent year-end ratings, without benefit of an age-related appeal of the player’s year-end rating level, if promoted will automatically be granted an appeal (A rating) of their current rating back to their previous valid year-end rating level, subject to 2.05E(5) below. NTRP Dynamic Disqualification procedures as outlined in 2.04B(3) apply.

2023 USTA League Regulation 2.05E(1)

I looked up the historical ratings of this player for myself just to make sure I understood what had occurred. She was recently “Promoted” to 5.0 in 2023 and assumed she was eligible for automatic appeal based on her rating history. However, the automatic appeal was denied. When she reached out to her USTA Section office for an explanation, she was told it was because she was not 4.5 for the previous three years.

I arranged her ratings in a table, as a visual aid for her rating history.

Year	NTRP Rating
2019	5.0 C
2020	4.5 C
2021* (No Update)	4.5 C
2022	4.5 C
2023	5.0 C

If you only look at the NTRP rating column, this player appears eligible for automatic appeal. However, the USTA position is that 2021 does not count, since there was no rating update that year. That means that 2020 and 2021 are essentially the same year. That pulls the 5.0 rating in 2019 within her previous 3-year window, even though per strict interpretation of the calendar it is not

Additionally, her Section Office explicitly told this player that the appeal was denied because her three previous year-end ratings were not 4.5. In other words, it wasn’t because her performance level was suddenly too high for the “automatic” age-based appeal to be granted, which can happen.

Strictly from an age-based appeal standpoint, this player will not be eligible for automatic appeal of promotion until she is 67.

Finishing Shots

When I originally wrote about this topic in “League Captain Alert: NTRP Computer Ratings Expirations” I wondered if we would see any additional downstream surprises from the decision to withhold NTRP ratings at the end of 2020. Now I am simply hoping that this is the last one we see.

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1. 2023 USTA League Regulations, USTA League Resources Web Page, document dated 10/26/2022.