Thanks for starting this thread, seems like a good one. Been pondering this myself.
First of all, your player should plan on winning the sectional ranking tournament in June. That will make everything simple
Second, It would be helpful to know people at USTA and get wild cards. That's another strategy/ :twisted:
Seriously though, one of the issues that a lot of this is going to be up to the Sections. Aside from the winners of the June selection tournaments, entry to most events(national/regional) in through sectional quotas. Sections are being given a of of leeway in how they manage their endorsements for these quotas spots.
Before there were 12 designated sectional events that counted for national ranking points, and typically most sections have used these events as sort of a circuit to determine sectional ranking points and ultimately endorsements. But with six of these events disappearing, are sections going to rely just on six events ? Or will they introduce additional events and mandate a certain level of participation to be eligible for an endorsement?
Likewise, the age up issue is something that they expect to be taken care of at the sectional level. From the FAQ :
"The new emphasis places increased importance on Sections to develop methods for players to age up because access is now primarily through Sectional play". So, it seems to me they have basically kicked the can to the Sections to figure out. Do Sections use some of there quota on top players from the younger age group? It seems that will be a section by section decision.
So, strategies may vary by section, depending on what your section come up with. Aside from mandating the level 3 events in January and June, and
recommending dates for the Level 4's, it seems the sections are on there own. Basically, until each section says what there sectional tournament system is going to be like, and how they will decide who to endorse, there are alot of unknowns.