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Aces and Places: Harry Hopman Doubles Selection Criteria for the NTRP National Championships The CalfPRO Deep Calf Stretcher Tennis Beyond the Headlines: January 20, 2025 Show me the Schedule Automating USTA Tennis Tournament Withdrawals T-Shirt Size Shouldn’t be a Complicated Question

NTRP National Championships: You Want That Supersized?

On By Teresa Merklin

Conducting National Championships is woven into the very fiber of the USTA’s existence. When the organization was confronted with the problem of declining participation in tournaments and focused on increasing play at NTRP events, the most natural “solution” was creation of a National Championship. As soon as a tournament is designated as a “National Championship,” it is also almost a foregone conclusion that it will be Level 1 in the USTA framework. Unfortunately, that sequence of completely logical thought breaks the rankings pyramid and hurts the overall tournament ecosystem.

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NTRP vs Competitive Pathway

On By Teresa Merklin

USTA tennis tournaments are played under a 7 tier unified framework. As previously discussed on this site, unification between the Adult and Junior system pretty much stops past the description that the framework has 7 tiers. The USTA tournament regulations that govern Adult and Junior play are separate and distinctly different documents. There is also divergence between Adult age group tennis and the Adult NTRP tournament system even though they co-exist within the same regulations. When NTRP tournaments were layered in to the existing Adult age group open system, it created a square peg and round hole situation.

Able: Gold Medals, Grand Slams and Smashing Glass Ceilings

On By Teresa Merklin

One of the unexpected benefits of writing this blog has been my discovery of the greatness of wheelchair tennis. When Dylan Alcott announced that the 2022 Australian Open will mark his retirement from competition, I knew that I would be reviewing his recently updated autobiography as “Australian Summer of Tennis” draws to a close. This compulsory read turned out to be a compulsory read: I finished the book in a single sitting.

Dingles!

On By Teresa Merklin

I played a tournament last October at the Mission Hills Country Club. The COVID postponed BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells was going on at the same time. One morning WTA player Desirae Krawczyk and her doubles partner Alexa Guarachi strolled into the club for a practice session. Naturally, I watched their workout with rapt attention. They played the classic doubles practice game “Dingles!” against their coaches.

Tennis on Campus is not the Solution

On By Teresa Merklin

Tennis on Campus was started by the USTA in 2000 as a way to capture the thousands of former Junior tennis players who had moved onto college, but not onto one of the limited spots on their collegiate tennis team. The program is managed by the USTA in cooperation with the National Intramural-Recreational Sports Association. It was supposed to be an important mechanism to bridge former Junior players into Adult tennis.

Marketing Adult Tennis to Juniors

On By Teresa Merklin

For years the USTA has obsessed about low participation of players between 20-40 years old. There is a “bathtub” shaped curve as participation plummets when players age out of Juniors tennis. The numbers don’t recover until after people turn 40. From a marketing perspective, it is a disaster because that demographic is where disposable income lives. It is also bad for overall participation because many people don’t ever return to the tennis ecosystem.

Truth Bomb: The USTA Hates Senior Tennis

On By Teresa Merklin

At the Cotton Bowl tournament over the holidays, I had an interesting conversation with someone who is a “near sider” to the USTA organization. That person dropped this truth bomb on me: The USTA thinks that the lack of participation in the 20-40 year old demographic is because younger players don’t want to play with older players. That’s right Seniors… the USTA is blaming you for the historic lack of participation in the younger demographic.

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Newk: Life On and Off the Court

On By Teresa Merklin

John Newcombe is a striking figure from the golden era of Australian tennis. The Aussies were also well known for on court achievement and even better known for having a great time off the court. It was an era of sportsmanship and camaraderie that may never exist again. Newcombe’s autobiography, Newk: Life On and Off the Court was published in 2002, but still feels current and relevant to this day.

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