Even Shorter Formats at Nationals

Fiend at Court Unplugged

I participated in the inaugural year of the USTA NTRP National Championships. That tournament is played using “Fast4” format. I have also played a similar version of short set tennis in local UTR tournaments. Those experiences is what brings me to the next point of my feedback letter recently submitted to the USTA Adult Competition Committee. (ACC) In a way, it is a preemptive strike against something that the USTA hasn’t done yet, but might consider in the future.

Point 5: Shortened Formats are not appropriate for “National” level tournaments… unless it rains
The USTA has become enamored with Short Sets or Fast4 formats. I personally have played that format in local UTRs and like it, with caveats. The UTR tournament I have played in have provided three competitive short format matches in a single day. Additionally, it was a local tournament that I didn’t have to travel to compete in. Having played in NTRP Nationals, it was extremely dissatisfying to me to incur the travel time and expense to play short format tennis. After my own participation in the inaugural year I have subsequently declined my sectional endorsement ever since.

Short Format has a place in the tennis ecosystem, but it is best positioned at local level tournaments. It should NEVER be a planned format at a Level 1 tournament. (And really level 2, or 3 for that matter.)

The exception to this is, of course, is if an event has to be shortened for weather. In that case a decision to go to shortened format is one that supports MORE tennis under uncontrollable circumstances. If events are planned and scheduled around shortened formats, tournament organizers don’t have the short format lever to pull to preserve the event in the case of inclement weather.
Point 5 from my feedback letter to the USTA ACC.

One of the key aspects to understanding this feedback is how context matters. I love short format tennis when it enables me to play three matches in a single day at local UTR tournaments. I hated the format when I had to spend two full travel days, a plane ticket, a rental car, and four nights of expensive lodging for “National Championship” matches spread out over a three day weekend. The format quite simply shouldn’t be used for National Level Event.

Because the USTA is so effusive in their self-praise of the NTRP National Championship innovation, it is not unreasonable to worry that the scoring format used at that event might be considered in the future for Senior Nationals. That line of reasoning needs to be shut down. Less tennis is never the answer.

I have written a lot about Fast4 and Short Sets on this site.