All Points on the Compass

Ever since the Texas Masters announced that this year’s tournament will use the compass draw format, I have been fielding questions about the accuracy of rankings points awarded for that draw format as currently calculated by the USTA Ranking Systems software. I am not sure how I wound up as the de facto verification tester, but nevertheless that seems to be my lot in life.

Even finding recent events that have been conducted under the compass draw format is a challenge. The tournament system does not provide a public method to search for certain draw types. Why would they? Fortunately, I am somewhat adept at open source information data collection using public search engines. That is to say, I googled for tournaments on the USTA official site that contained the word “compass” in the tournament name or description.

From that exercise, I gather that the compass draw format is generally not very common in USTA sanctioned tournaments. Additionally, I found many events where the words “Compass Draw” appeared in the tournament name yet all of the actual draws were conducted as round robins. In fact, based on the number of 6 team/player round robin draws I found during this exercise, I strongly suspect that the USTA software will not allow a 6 player/team compass draw to be created.

In terms of a full 8 person/team compass draw, the “Level 7: High Point Adult One Day Compass Draw Tournament” provides a pretty good example. The following eye chart was pasted together to reflect what a “full” compass draw for 8 competitors looks like. I don’t really expect anyone to squint through the image. I am not going to exhaustively go through the math either. However, this example provides me with an opportunity to say that I really hope that support for printer friendly draws is somewhere on the future functions priority list.

This is the “Blue” draw for Mens 3.5 Singles from the recent High Point tournament. It contains exactly 8 players which is the maximum number accepted for the Texas Masters. Based on the individual rankings posted for each player that competed in this draw, the USTA performs the rankings calculations correctly. On this single data point alone, I am reasonably confident that the rankings points for “full” 8 competitor draws will be calculated correctly at the Texas Masters.

I was relieved and surprised that the software did not incorrectly award all the back draw players 53 “extra” points. Those points would have been erroneously given for initial placement into the Quarterfinals, the round where an 8 person draw starts. This means that a problem seen earlier this year has likely been corrected for this and the other draw types that share a common rankings point table with the compass draw.

Since a full 8 competitor compass draw is calculated correctly, the Texas Masters is out of the woods, right?

Not Quite

I spent a ridiculous amount of time last week trying to find a recent 8 competitor compass draw containing a player who received a first round bye and who also subsequently lost their second round east/main draw match. However, I did find a 16 player draw from the Paseo Racquet Center in Arizona that had a player who met that criteria. I was looking for a test case that exercises the following USTA Adult Tournament Regulation.

3. Treatment of byes, withdrawals, walkovers, disqualifications, defaults, retirements, and abandonments or cancellations.

a. A player who advances because of a bye does not receive ranking points for advancing.

USTA Adult and Family Tournament, Ranking, & Sanctioning Regulations, Regulation IX.F.3.a.

A player in the Men’s 3.0 division of the Level 6 Paseo tournament (reference link below) received a Bye in the Round of 16 and lost his subsequent Quarterfinal match. That player did not receive any main draw rankings points which is accurate per USTA IX.F.3.a. That player only received consolation points for the subsequent match that he won which was a no-show walkover.

I believe that there is a chance that a player at the Texas Masters who receives a bye in the first round may only receive “consolation” points for winning the 3rd-4th playoff match. In other words, they might receive 60 points for defeating a player who receives 750 in that match. I am still looking for a definitive recent example, but that may come for the first time in the Texas Masters itself.

Considering an alternative scenario, if the 3rd-4th points are guaranteed, then a player could receive 750 points for a tournament performance consisting of a Bye followed by a loss in the 3rd-4th match. That also feels wrong. You shouldn’t get 4th place points for just showing up but failing to win a match. (You know, like the current round robin implementation issues.)

Recall the point schedule published by the organizers of the 2022 Texas Adult Masters.

Format: Compass Draw – Points will be allocated according to final standings on the Compass Draw (1st thru 8th place)  1st pl: 1,500; 2nd: 1,050; 3rd: 900; 4th: 750; 5th: 120; 6th: 60; 7th: 60; 8th: 0

Excerpt from Level 4 Closed: Simply the BEST – 2022 Austin Subaru Texas Adult Masters Championships

From examining recent compass brackets and the resulting rankings points awarded, it is evident that back draw Byes do not garner the player any points. In fact, that is the correct implementation per the USTA Regulations. However, that also means that the point schedule published for the Texas Masters is inaccurate for any bracket that has a Bye.

As an example, the path to a 5th place finish in an 8 competitor compass draw is a loss in the main draw match followed by two wins in the “West” draw. However, if that player receives a bye in the back draw, then they will only receive 60 points rather than the 120 indicated.

Here There Be Dragons and Round Robins

I don’t think that it is a bold statement to say that many of the events at the Texas Masters will still use a round robin draw. The “Level 7: High Point Adult One Day Compass Draw Tournament” had three separate full 8 person compass draws for Mens 3.5 singles, and a 4th round robin draw with a total of four competitors.

In other words, those 28 players could have been slotted into 4 compass draws each of which contained a Bye. The fact that it was not done that way is probably an indication that those tournament organizers understand that Byes perturb the compass format. My best guess is that the priority was to guarantee three matches for each player.

A winless player from the round robin bracket in that division received 75 points for his performance in the tournament. Ironically, that is exactly the kind of problem that the Texas Masters is trying to avoid by opting for the compass draws.

I cannot let this pass without reiterating a recurring theme from this site. “The draw format of a tournament should not materially alter the rankings point allocation for the players.” This example adds an additional layer to the absurdity by illustrating that variation can occur in a single division by literal “luck of the draw” that a player is slotted into.

To spell out the problem, a player who was slotted into a 4 person round robin and failed to win a match, received more points than players who won 2 matches in the other draw format. This is fundamentally wrong.

Where Does This Leave the Texas Masters?

Some players will receive points that exactly correspond to the schedule pre-published by the Texas Masters organizers. Some of those players will be dissatisfied with that result, especially when the disparities between divisions that wind up playing alternative draw formats are highlighted.

I am not playing the Texas Masters this year. My reasons are unrelated to anything highlighted in this post. The tyranny of the calendar is real. However, I am delighted that the tournament will likely produce the additional data points necessary to determine if the software is performing calculations correctly for this relatively obscure draw type. Silver linings.

Tomorrow we will examine a potential scenario for the Texas Masters that was not selected but should probably be considered for the future.

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1. Level 7: High Point Adult One Day Compass Draw Tournament, USTA Official Tournament Page, last viewed September 29, 2022.
2. USTA Adult and Family Tournament, Ranking, & Sanctioning Regulations, USTA Web Site, last viewed September 20, 2022.
3. Level 6: Paseo September Sizzle, USTA Official Tournament Page, last viewed September 29, 2022.
4. Level 4 Closed: Simply the BEST – 2022 Austin Subaru Texas Adult Masters Championships, Capatal Area Tennis Association Website, viewed September 26, 2022.
5. USTA Adult Tournaments Ranking System, USTA Resource, as of February 1, 2022, downloaded September 30, 2022.