The post “Ranking Points and Divisional Fragmentation” last Saturday, outlined how NTRP age divisions divides otherwise minimally viable draws completely out of existence. That post observed that ranking point fragmentation is yet another depressive factor in Adult tournament participation. I previously proposed that elimination of the NTRP age divisions could make an immediate positive difference. In the interim, I realized that there is another obvious “easy” way to mitigate the problem. The USTA should award ranking points in both the division entered as well as the division that was actually played for Adult and Family tournaments.
The tournament ranking system used by USTA Texas prior to the deployment of the USTA unified national framework did exactly that. At some point along the way I was told that it was “too complicated” to have the new USTA software account for players earning points across divisions. Additionally, the restriction that ranking points are only awarded in one division is explicitly stated in the Adult and Family Tournament Regulations.
Ranking calculation. Singles, doubles, and mixed doubles rankings are based on the total ranking points earned during the Ranking Period in the division from the six Ranking Tournaments in which the player earned the most ranking points in singles, doubles, and mixed doubles, respectively. No match may count for ranking in more than one Adult or Family division.
USTA Adult and Family Tournament Regulation IX.F.5
Interestingly enough, that Regulation doesn’t explicitly restrict rankings points to the division that was played. However, that is the current implementation.
Brian Notis, the highly respected Tournament Director of the Austin Tennis Academy in Texas, pointed out that another solution for Adult tournaments would be to award ranking points across both the division entered and the division played, just like Texas used to do. Notis also shared with me the fact that USTA Junior Tournament Regulations explicitly awards ranking points to players in multiple age divisions.
Ranking Points at the percentages listed above earned in an older age division tournament count towards a player’s standing in one or more younger age divisions provided that a National Ranking Tournament has been played in the division and they are among the player’s best 6 singles or doubles results.
USTA Junior National Tournament Regulation III.D (Comments)
By my reading, this is not to address draw fragmentation, but rather to allow players to voluntarily “play-up” to seek better competition. In fact, players effectively earn points, albeit at a steep discount, for older age group divisions, even if they never enter or play in the older divisions.
20% of the Ranking Points earned in a younger age division tournament count towards a player’s standing in the next-older age division if they are among the player’s best 6 singles or doubles results, regardless of whether a National Ranking Tournament has been played in that division.
USTA Junior National Tournament Regulation III.D (Comments)
When the USTA unveiled the 7 tier tournament system for Adults, one of the driving reasons given for its adoption was so Juniors would naturally understand the Adult tournament system. This example is yet another data point that illustrates that the two systems are entirely different. The fact that both have 7 levels of tournaments is merely a facade.
However, the Junior regulations highlights the fact that the USTA can absolutely award ranking points in more than one division for Adult tournaments since that is already being done for the youngsters. The Adult Regulations would have to be updated to strike out the limitation from IX.F.5. A comment would also probably be needed to explain how cross divisional ranking points are awarded.
The USTA should allow Adult tournament players to earn ranking points in both the division entered as well as the division that is actually played. It should be performed across the board for NTRP age-based divisions as well as Age Group Open tournament events. Players will not continue to enter tournaments if their divisions rarely make. This is a huge issue for Adult tennis.
- USTA Adult and Family Tournament, Ranking, & Sanctioning Regulations, Amended December 2020, viewed April 29, 2022.
- USTA Junior National Tournament, Ranking, and Sanctioning Regulations, USTA Regulation Document, undated. (Editorial Note: The USTA should seriously consider embedding version information and dates in their Regulation documents.)
