The Rules of Tennis
Since formation of USTA League teams for 2022 is already in high swing, now is the perfect time to take an advance look at new rules which are expected to come into effect. The 2022 USTA League Regulations (apparently) have yet to be officially released. However, a draft document was circulated for review last June that is probably close enough for our purposes.
Today we will examine a rule insertion that allows partial round robin league play at the local level.
2.01C(2) Partial Round Robin. Each NTRP level within a local league may play a partial round robin competition wherein every team plays the same number of matches against randomly selected opponents. A minimum of the top two teams shall progress to a single elimination playoff to establish a local league champion for that NTRP level.
Excerpt from Draft USTA League Regulations 2022 [1]
Partial round robins are already implemented at the USTA League National Championships. This new rule extends the format to the local league level. For local leagues that have an excessive number of teams, the new provision provides league organizers with an additional scheduling mechanism beyond simply grouping teams into arbitrary flights.
Looking into my crystal ball, there will be complaints about partial round robins implemented at the local league level. In fact, I am anticipating that people will slide into my DMs on that very topic. The complaints likely run along the lines that their teams “randomly” selected round robin opponents were considerably tougher than the ones “randomly” scheduled for another team. Additionally, the odds are that the team with the perceived favorable matchups will also happen to have deep connections with the league organizers.
The USTA League Committee apparently had the same premonition. In fact, that I believe that the mitigation attempt drives the last sentence of 2.01C(2). Requiring two or more teams to participate in a playoff prevents a team from advancing to the Sectional Championships by virtue of a “lucky draw.” Whether or not it works is almost immaterial. There is no way to stop an intrepid captain from believing that they have been wronged during USTA League play.
The 2022 (Draft) USTA League Regulations also contain some “clean up” wording associated with the new partial round robin provision in 2.01C(2). Those changes basically disambiguate situations where full versus partial round robin implementations makes a difference.
Curiously enough, two additional provisions directly related to the partial round robin provision were added under the Sectional Championship
2.03D(1)a To establish the champion of a local league that utilized a full round robin competition under 2.01C(1), the Sectional Association shall determine the competition format for the championship competition.
2.03D(1)b To establish the champion of a local league that utilized a partial round robin competition under 2.01C(2), the competition format shall be a minimum of a single elimination playoff between the top two teams at the conclusion of the partial round robin to establish a local league champion for that NTRP level.
Excerpt from Draft USTA League Regulations 2022 [1]
These two rules seem to be extraneous on the surface. The fact that a playoff was required was already clearly indicated in 2.01C(2). These additional two paragraphs seem to give the Section office the ability to reject a champion from the local level if a playoff was not used from a partial round robin.
If the wording was intended to say that partial round robins are also permitted at the Sectional Championships… 2.03D(1)a and 2.03D(1)b do not accomplish that at all.
There are other changes coming in the USTA (Draft) League Regulations and we will spend the next couple of weeks on those updates.
- USTA League Regulations 2022, Draft document dated June 29, 2021.
