An engineer overthinks tennis in a daily journal.
When this sequential march through the ITF Rules of Tennis was first initiated, I anticipated that discussion of wheelchair tennis might be omitted altogether. However, after the backlash against the USTA for attempting to eliminate the wheelchair tennis from the US Open in 2020, it became a topic that was impossible to ignore.
The ITF publishes a list of approved “Player Analysis Technology” devices on their official web site. Information on each device in that list includes the official report of the evaluation. Sadly, the ITF does not publish the reports for disapproved devices. However, examination of the reports from the devices that were approved reveals the factors that are generally considered.
I have to confess a distinct lack of enthusiasm for today’s topic. This past weekend marked the first tournaments of the year to be executed under the new USTA Play Tennis framework. The largest of the events held was the Level 5 Open 2021 CATA Polar Bear Adult Doubles. That tournament was conducted in Austin, Texas. Unfortunately, due to technical difficulties, that tournament was ultimately run under the old TennisLink system.
Every once in awhile someone will point out to me that I have historically railed against the “Fast4” shortened format, while extolling the virtues of UTR tournaments that use a very similar Short Set format. While it looks like an inconsistency on the surface, there is a one word explanation: Context.
As I continue my walk down memory lane of this site’s posts in 2020, I am confronted by the Fiend at Court bag tags. These tags were printed with the relevant rules for how to start a new set following the conclusion of a tie-break game. I designed and ordered the bag tags in anticipation that I would use them as a business card for anyone who showed an interest in this site. I would have anticipated that all of the bag tags would be gone by now.
One of my favorite discoveries from 2020 was the fact that the US Open uses different balls for the men and women’s events. That fact was casually mentioned in this site’s discussion of the manufacture and construction of the tennis ball. In retrospect, that topic is worthy of a post devoted entirely to that fact. Today I am correcting that oversight.
I finally completed my reading of Levels of the Game by John McPhee. The book is a detailed account of the 1968 semi-final match between by Arthur Ashe and Clark Graebner play at Forest Hills and is widely regarded as a literary masterpiece. The match is the foreground of for a much deeper cultural and societal examination. The backgrounds and attitudes which shaped each player are interwoven with the match play.
Since it is 2021, I started looking around for the updated USTA Friend at Court for the current year. As (eventually) confirmed by whoever is behind the USTA Officiating email address, it is not out yet. Long time readers of may recall that the 2020 rules discussion started out using the 2019 version of the USTA Friend at Court. There apparently is a little lag at the first of each year.
Since I tangentially mentioned the Wilson Triniti tennis ball over the weekend, now seems like the perfect time to discuss this new innovative ball. As I started in on my coverage for today, I stumbled across a great mystery. What is the approval status of the ball?
Effective January 1, 2021, the Fair Oaks Tennis Center in Dallas is permanently closed. To the best of my knowledge, the only place where the closure notification has been published is on the Facebook page for the facility. The announcement of the impending shut down was first shared on December 6.