At the end of January 2022, the post “NTRP National Championships: You Want That Supersized?” outlined an issue with the ranking points awarded to players who were fortunate enough to get into the tournament and also perform well. Starting this year, the USTA has made a change that will go a long way toward fixing that problem. The NTRP National Championships is now a Level 3 rather than a Level 1 tournament. That update eliminates a tremendously unfair rankings point disparity that saw some of the same players returning to the tournament year after year while others who did not get to compete in the event didn’t have much of a chance to break through.
Q: Why are 2025 NTRP Nationals only a Level 3 and not a Level 1?
2025 NTRP National Championships FAQ (Excerpt)
A: With no Level 2 or 3 NTRP Tournaments, there was too large of a discrepancy in points between those who participated in NTRP Nationals and those who did not, which was not the intention. Awarding Level 3 points will lower this discrepancy so that players do not have an unfair advantage with significant points from the prior year. As a result, there will be no Level 1 or 2 tournaments for NTRP divisions.
The fact that the NTRP National Championships was initially categorized as a Level 1 tournament makes complete logical sense. As soon as something is designated as a “National Championship” by the USTA, it is almost a foregone conclusion that it will be Level 1 in the tournament framework. Unfortunately, since the USTA sanctions no Level 2 or Level 3 NTRP national tournaments, there has been a significant gap in rankings points that could be earned at the NTRP National Championships and all the other tournaments that topped out at Level 4.
That gap between the NTRP National Championships and the rest of the tournaments created a rankings and competitive equity problem for the USTA. Players who perform well at the NTRP National Championships do not typically get bumped up an NTRP level the following year. Since the NTRP National Championship tournament is within the 12-month rolling window of the National Selection List (NSL) used to select competitors, players who competed in the event the previous year were at a tremendous advantage over those who did not. In some cases, that point disparity created an oversized points advantage that was virtually insurmountable for players who did not have a chance to play in the event the previous year.
It created a situation where any player who performed well at the NTRP National Championships was almost guaranteed to receive an endorsement the following year when rankings were the selection criteria. That essentially shuts new players out of the process, which is bad for tennis.
Demoting the NTRP National Championship from Level 1 to Level 3 essentially cuts the rankings points that a player can earn at the event in half. While that doesn’t completely erase the disparity, it is a significant improvement. Another potential change to consider would be to create a selection list for the NTRP Nationals that excluded rankings points won at previous NTRP National Championships. In Texas, the highly prestigious year-end “Masters” Championship used to intentionally exclude rankings points earned at the previous year’s event. Another cue comes from how the ATP and WTA year-end championships don’t include rankings points earned at the previous year’s event. In a nutshell, points earned at a prestigious championship event should not count toward future qualification for that same event.
As an alternative implementation to creating special selection lists that exclude the NTRP National Championships, the tournament could be structured as an unsanctioned event that awards no ranking points at all. However, conducting an unsanctioned National Championship creates a separate conundrum for the USTA. I understand why the Level 3 route was selected.
I was among the players who directly benefited from the outsized ranking points awarded at the NTRP National Championships. It was inherently obvious to the people who benefited from it that the points boost was an undeniable advantage in securing spots from year to year. However, this is also a tale of how amazing the tournament tennis community is. Most players in my orbit who similarly enjoyed that advantage recognized the problem and now support this change.
For the most part, tournament tennis players are sportsmanlike competitors who want to compete in frameworks that are equitable and fair rather than tilted to anyone’s advantage. Most firmly believe that success should come from skill and dedication, not from a ranking system that creates competitive inequities.
The USTA needs more players with that attitude.
- 2024 USTA Adult Tournaments Ranking Point Tables
- 2025 NTRP National Championships Selection Criteria, USTA web-published resource, undated and no version markings.
- 2025 NTRP National Championships FAQ, USTA web-published resource, undated and no version markings.
- 2025 NTRP National Championships Fact Sheet, USTA web-published resource, undated and no version markings.
- USTA About NTRP National Championships, USTA web page, viewer January 18, 2025.
