Fiend at Court Unplugged
The USTA has been touting the consolidated national ranking system as a benefit of the new USTA tournament structural changes coming in 2021. In the course of that discussion, the associated webinars spent an inordinate amount on that topic. In terms of attracting new players to tournaments, I don’t think that ranking points is a big selling point. However, those points do have a profound impact on the tournaments that more experienced players decide to play.
Rankings points matter for more than just the position where a tennis player’s name appears in a list. Sometimes rankings points translate to selection to play in nationally and internationally significant events. That incentive is most pronounced in the upper echelons, but it has also been replicated at the sectional level for NTRP levels in the USTA Texas Section.
Intersectionals
Earlier this week, the USTA quietly published a document on the Adult Tournament page with the preliminary 2021 Adult Tournament National Calendar. I greeted the discovery that it had been posted with the eagerness and enthusiasm rivaling the arrival of the Sears Christmas Catalog when I was a child. I printed out the spreadsheet, and started pouring over it with a highlighter.
One of the events listed was the senior women’s intersectional event. The best way to describe intersectionals is that it is kind of like a tennis league match, but between teams formed from the best players in each USTA section. It is played at the open age-group level. Each section has a selection process for constructing their intersectional teams.
I was invited to play on the Texas intersectional team shortly after my return to competitive tennis. It is reasonable to assume that my selection was a horrible administrative mistake. I have never been selected since, though I apply every year. The experience of playing intersectionals was completely transformative to my tennis experience.
My own state of Texas invites players to apply for the intersectional team via an email. The message I received last year did not list the selection criteria and the link to the web page with more information is dead. After all, that was so last year. As such, I don’t have a good handle on the selection criteria for Texas other than the fact that they once screwed it up so completely that I made the team.
The New England section has an application for the Intersectional Team on an active public facing website. That application does not include the actual criteria for selection, but does include general guidelines of the players who will be selected. The first item listed is “Top 10 ranked tournament player in an Open or Senior division.” Tournament ranking matters.
Team USA Senior International Teams
The United States sends teams to international ITF team competitions every year. In order to qualify to play on team USA a player must have played in at least one USTA Category I tournament in either singles or doubles in the preceding 12 months. For the sake of completeness, right now the timeframe is temporarily 24 months due to COVID. Additionally, mixed does not count. The requirement for Category I play is an ITF requirement and the USTA does not have the ability to waive it.
The USTA does exercise control over the selection of the actual players. As a part of that application process, a list of the most important criteria is provided “without regard to priority.” This means that they can selected the players based on whatever aspects of their performance is most compelling.
- Results from USTA Category I National Championships
- Results on the surface of the applied for, upcoming World Team Championship
- Results in the age division being considered (or in the case of a player aging up, results in that player’s actual age division)
- Recent results
- Length and strength of a playing record in singles and/or doubles.
While rankings points are not explicitly listed in the criteria, it is stated in the selection criteria section that the results are from sanctioned tournaments and team events that earn ranking points.
The Points Matter
Tournament Ranking standings on their own can be a powerful extrinsic motivator which drives participation in tournaments. At the upper echelons, players are vying for selection to teams for national and international competitions.
Tomorrow I am turning my attention to how this tournament rankings points drive participation at some of the lower tiers of competition.
- 2021 USTA Adult Tournaments Ranking System, USTA website hosted document, viewed 10/29/2020.
- USTA 2021 National Adult Tournament Calendar, USTA website hosted document, date stamped 10/23/2020, viewed 10/30/2020.
- “Apply for an Intersectional Team,” USTA New England, USTA website hosted document, viewed 10/29/2020.
- Senior International Team Selection Guidelines, USTA webpage, viewed 10/29/2020.
