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Ultimate Stocking Stuffer List for Tennis Players (2024 Edition) Secrets of Winning Tennis The USTA Encourages Double Dipping The Speed Ladder Tennis Beyond the Headlines: November 18, 2024 A Balanced Diet: Healthy Tennis Engagements A Balanced Diet: Better Nutrition for Better Tennis

Surprising? Differences in a “Unified” System

On By Teresa Merklin

There are striking differences between USTA Adult and Junior tournament regulations. The same can be said about the respective ranking systems. Over the past couple of months, I have written a lot about errors and inconsistencies in the USTA Adult regulations and ranking system. In the background, I frequently reference the equivalent documentation that governs Junior competition for additional insight and perspective. The fact that the Adult and Junior documents are vastly different is immediately apparent even on casual review. The fundamental question is this: Should those differences exist?

Updating USTA Regulations, Schoolhouse Rock Style

On By Teresa Merklin

Last Sunday I described a request I made to the USTA Adult Competition Committee to update the glossary in the USTA Adult and Family Tournament, Ranking, and Sanctioning Regulations. Today I want to step through the process for how that actually occurs. To keep this topic from being as boring as it… Well, actually is… I am going to unapologetically leverage the linguistic style of the Schoolhouse Rock classic, “I’m just a Bill.”

My Notable Tennis Book Whiffs From 2021

On By Teresa Merklin

I don’t think it is unreasonable to stake the claim that the Fiend at Court has independently reviewed more tennis books over the last two years than any other site. That being said, there were quite a few notable titles first published this year that I never got around to reading. (So many books, so little time.) Today I am sharing books from 2021 that are in personal reading queue that I plan to get around to covering… eventually.

How to Change USTA Regulations

On By Teresa Merklin

Yesterday I described an ambiguity in the USTA Adult and Family Tournament, Ranking & Sanctioning Regulations document that impacts how ranking points are awarded at tournaments. This has prompted me to explore the process for proposing updates to that document. The specific change will be a clarification of how rankings points are assigned for players/teams that do not win a match in Round Robin pool play. Like any good bureaucracy, the USTA has a process for updating their regulations.

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Points Per Round and Rankings

On By Teresa Merklin

Last weekend the post “Points Illustrated: An Example of Rankings Inequities,” contained an example where a winless team was awarded 615 ranking points in a Level 4 round robin bracket. In the USTA legacy digital platform, players had to win a match in a tournament to receive anything more than participation points for the event. The fact that the new digital platform awarded those points is a great backdrop for exploring what the USTA regulations actually say.

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The Three Books that Every Tennis Player Should Own

On By Teresa Merklin

Tis the season for recommending thoughtful gifts for tennis players. Today we will consider the three books that every tennis player should own. These books should also be read. Most books can be read and then cast aside after initial consumption. The books in the own category are those timeless classics get revisited and consulted over time. These are the books that make the best gifts.

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