Ever since the USTA rolled out the unified national tournament ranking system for Adults, both the regulations and the software have struggled to handle the Round Robin format consistently and equitably. This weekend I am revisiting the ranking points allocated following the 2022 “Level 4 Closed: Simply the BEST – 2022 Austin Subaru Texas Adult Masters Championships.” Since some events at that tournament were played using the Round Robin format, this is an opportune time for an update on the current status of rankings points calculations for that specific draw type.
The 2022 Texas Masters was conducted primarily using Compass draws. Before the tournament, the organizers issued a statement outlining how rankings points would be allocated in the Compass Draw format.
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
In prior years, the USTA rankings software has been plagued with an issue that was very apparent at the Texas Masters. Specifically, there were large discrepancies in the points awarded between different draw formats at that tournament. In fact, that issue is what likely prompted the organizers of the tournament to move to Compass this year.
However, due to low participation, the Texas Masters had three events that were conducted as Round Robins. Two of those brackets had 5 competitors and one had only 3. There was also an event with only two entries, but that was played as a single-match Compass bracket.
Earlier in the year, the USTA rankings calculation software was incorrectly awarding points to winless players in Round Robin brackets. For example, losing both matches in a 3-team pool was resulting in 3rd place points. That’s a lot of ranking points for failing to win a match.
All three Round Robin events at the 2022 Texas Masters had a team that went winless in the pool. None of those teams received rankings points for performance in the tournament. Huzzah! The USTA has finally fixed this rather glaring issue. That is seriously good news.
Happily, the rankings points awarded to the competitors in those Round Robin brackets exactly matched the equivalent order-of-finish performance as the Compass Draw competitors. In other words, 1st received 1500, 2nd received 1050, 3rd received 900, and 4th received 750. That identically matches the points allocation statement issued by tournament organizers.
Unfortunately, there is still one problem remaining. That is the subject of tomorrow’s post.
- Level 4 Closed: Simply the BEST – 2022 Austin Subaru Texas Adult Masters Championships, Capital Area Tennis Association Website, viewed September 26, 2022.
- USTA Adult Tournaments Ranking System, USTA Resource, as of February 1, 2022, downloaded September 30, 2022.
Today’s banner photo is from the 2021 Texas Masters provided courtesy of Pushkar Chhajed.
