UTR Flex League Match Blog

[travlerajm]

Today’s opponent was a bit of an unknown, without a reliable UTR. He has no usta record. He had beaten a 100% reliable 6.xx UTR easily, and also double-bageled another guy in my group. He had passed me and was #1 in my division after the first 2 rounds, with me at #2.

He had booked back-to-back 1:15 indoor court slots for our match, to give us a 2.5h window.

He was 43 years old, in good shape. He came armed with a matched pair of midnight blue Yonexes with fresh white replacement grips, so I knew he could play.

I showed up with only my untested 26-incher.
It had served me well last week on clay against the Moroccan, but the balls then were softer.

Today I was not very comfortable with the racquet in the conditions. The new Dunlops digging too deep into my dead full poly stringbed. And I couldn’t really trust the way the ball was coming off the strings. It was going to be a tough day…

 

[travlerajm]

Opponent was rock solid off the ground, but a bit weak at net.

My problem today was that I didn’t feel confident flattening the ball out to pull the trigger. So I couldn’t hit very good approach shots, leaving me stuck in the rallies.

My opponent settled in to play the long rally point game too, not giving in.

The points started to get really looooong. He hit fairly flat off both wings, with secure trusty strokes. I was sort of stuck having to hit loopy, which helped him as he was better off high balls with his flatter strokes. I was wishing I had brought a better slice and dice stick.

At 2-2 hisxserve, we had a 50-ball exchange with crazy back and forth dashes, I ended up losing it. But he was winded after, so I won the game and opened up a 5-2 lead.

Then I got sloppy, he got to 5-4, before I closed it out.

Second set, I ran out to a 5-1 lead behind the moonball and charge tactic. But he adjusted, and was pretty good at taking the high balls on the rise.

The rallies continued to extend long. I was moving him side to side more, but I didn’t have a good finishing blow, and I couldn’t seem to get him winded enough to stick a fork in him. 5 or 6 times, I was within 2 points of the finish line, but he seemed to toughen up in the clutch. He clawed back to 5-5…

 

[travlerajm]

At 6-4, 5-5, our 2.5h window expired. So we ended with an incomplete.

My opponent seemed very jazzed up about the result after the match. “this is going to help my UTR!”.

He was very satisfied that he was able to avoid the trap of playing too aggressively against me, happy to battle me on the long game in a physical battle of wills.

I felt a bit depressed afterward. My lack of firepower with the 26er allowed him to get too comfortable.
I also whacked myself in the forehead near the end somehow, leaving an unsightly welt. An indication that my racquet control wasn’t up to snuff today. I felt like I had my B- game. Physically I was solid, but didn’t feel like o had my usual net pressuring identity.

My legs were definitely not in tennis shape, and I put a lot of unexpected mileage on them today. I’m aching in my legs and feet while posting this, and it will take a few days to recover.

Updated Scores:
1. 6-0,6-0
2. 6-0,6-0
3. 6-1,6-0
4. 6-1,6-1
5. 6-2,6-3
6. 6-4,5-5

How’s the trend?
0,0,1,2,5,9…
Feels like an IQ test question… what’s the next number in the series?

 

[esgee48]

You should stop playing with the 26” racquet.

 

[travlerajm]

Interestingly, since my opponent from yesterday didn’t have a reliable rating going into the match (only a double bagel vs a lower level player and a 6-4, 6-2 win vs a 100% reliability 6.xx to his name), and I was supposedly 100% reliability 7.30 going in, my opponents UTR was bumped up from a 10% reliable 6.xx to a 20% reliable 7.xx, and mine remained unchanged at 7.30. So the algorithm used my rating to help rate my opponent but the score had no impact on my rating.

Edit: my UTR hasn’t update. the result actually increased my UTR to 7.41.

 

[travlerajm]

My first official rated match vs. a 100% reliability 7.xx UTR is on the schedule for tomorrow.

Still recovering from last week’s 2.5h slog.

I’ve decided not to use the 26” racquet.

 

[Purestriker]

My first official rated match vs. a 100% reliability 7.xx UTR is on the schedule for tomorrow.

Still recovering from last week’s 2.5h slog.

I’ve decided not to use the 26” racquet.

I would sell the 26" so you are never tempted to use it again.

 

[travlerajm]

I would sell the 26" so you are never tempted to use it again.

Astute observers will note that I have successfully failed to increase my games-won % compared to the previous match in any match thus far.

Can I keep my string going?

 

[Purestriker]

Astute observers will note that I have successfully failed to increase my games-won % compared to the previous match in any match thus far.

Can I keep my string going?

Yes. I believe!

 

[travlerajm]

Opponent was age 30ish, ex D3 college player. He showed up with a Roger Federer Autograph Darth Vader paint job, so I wasn’t sure if he could really play or not.

He was really nice guy, just moved here from Chicago. We chatted for a bit before our indoor time slot.

I felt like I won the warmup by playing crisper, but when match started, I played tight. I panicked after making a few errors in a row, and made the dumb mistake of switching racquets before my serve game at 1-2. Got broken. Switched back.

He was flat hitter, both wings. Forehand was legitimate weapon. 2hb was solid. Also very good slicing bh when I gave him low ball. He always seemed to make clean volleys even when I thought I had him in awkward spots.

I got down 1-4. Clawed back to 3-4, but played another sloppy service game. I saved 3 set points on his next serve game but dropped the first set 3-6.

Second set I got down 1-2, but then pulled ahead 3-2 before our 1:15 time slot ended.

He was definitely best player I have faced so far in UTR flex leagues. Was disappointed that we ran out of time because I felt like I was just staring to figure out how to play him. He played quite aggressively whenever I left any ball short near service line. His serve was probably his weakest shot, so I had success attacking his second serve.

I’d say I had my B game today. I’d like to play him again as our levels are closely matched and our styles contrasted and led to interesting chess game points.

I didn’t quite have my racquet setup figured out. I went with the 27.5” but should have stick with it instead of stupidly switching back and forth and costing myself the first set.

I felt encouraged afterward, despite not finishing with more total games, because my level drifted upward and I played my best at the end. I felt like I would have won today if we had had enough time to complete the match. My forehand stabilized by the end and was getting better and better. At start of the match, my forehand was the weak link in the rallies. But by the end, I was using my forehand to heavy ball him and was happy to trade forehands.

 

[travlerajm]

I kept my streak alive of successfully failing to increase my games-won % from the previous match for 7 straight matches.

I’m quite proud of this.

 

[Purestriker]

Opponent was age 30ish, ex D3 college player. He showed up with a Roger Federer Autograph Darth Vader paint job, so I wasn’t sure if he could really play or not.

He was really nice guy, just moved here from Chicago. We chatted for a bit before our indoor time slot.

I felt like I won the warmup by playing crisper, but when match started, I played tight. I panicked after making a few errors in a row, and made the dumb mistake of switching racquets before my serve game at 1-2. Got broken. Switched back.

He was flat hitter, both wings. Forehand was legitimate weapon. 2hb was solid. Also very good slicing bh when I gave him low ball. He always seemed to make clean volleys even when I thought I had him in awkward spots.

I got down 1-4. Clawed back to 3-4, but played another sloppy service game. I saved 3 set points on his next serve game but dropped the first set 3-6.

Second set I got down 1-2, but then pulled ahead 3-2 before our 1:15 time slot ended.

He was definitely best player I have faced so far in UTR flex leagues. Was disappointed that we ran out of time because I felt like I was just staring to figure out how to play him. He played quite aggressively whenever I left any ball short near service line. His serve was probably his weakest shot, so I had success attacking his second serve.

I’d say I had my B game today. I’d like to play him again as our levels are closely matched and our styles contrasted and led to interesting chess game points.

I didn’t quite have my racquet setup figured out. I went with the 27.5” but should have stick with it instead of stupidly switching back and forth and costing myself the first set.

I felt encouraged afterward, despite not finishing with more total games, because my level drifted upward and I played my best at the end. I felt like I would have won today if we had had enough time to complete the match. My forehand stabilized by the end and was getting better and better. At start of the match, my forehand was the weak link in the rallies. But by the end, I was using my forehand to heavy ball him and was happy to trade forehands.

As someone who loves to switch rackets (when I really shouldn’t) in a match I’ve started leaving the other rackets at home. That way I’m not tempted to switch when I had a tight service game.

 

[travlerajm]

Tomorrow morning, I will face off against a 100% reliability 7.xx UTR who straight-settled my most recent opponent, who was ahead of me when I stopped.

Opponent has booked a 2.5h indoor session, so I am unlikely to be saved by the clock this time.

Plan is to enter the match with a 27” standard length frame strung with full poly for the first time ever in my UTR flex league career.

7 matches in, I’ve successfully failed to improve my games won % from the previous match in every single match so far. Can I stave off this ominous trend?

 

[travlerajm]

Ever have one of those days that makes you depressed about your tennis game?

That was today. I started out with my D- game, and never really snapped out of it. I was a complete mess. Couldn’t do much more than poke and bunt. Missing easy shots all over the place.

I lost 6-3, 7-5. But it wasn’t the loss that made me depressed. It was that my level was absolute garbage.

My racquet felt fine on the wall in the days before the match. But today I was lost. A shell of myself. maybe not setting foot on an actual tennis court for 2 weeks hurt.

I successfully extended my streak of losing a higher % games than the previous match for 8 consecutive matches and counting.

 

[Dags]

No observations about your opponent's racquet? But how do we know whether he could play?

I'm actually highly encouraged by this recent run of results. The five wins in routine fashion had me concerned, but two draws and this first loss suggest that there are actually some recreational players in your area that are potentially decent competition. Hopefully they're active and you can build a good community.

 

[travlerajm]

No observations about your opponent's racquet? But how do we know whether he could play?

I'm actually highly encouraged by this recent run of results. The five wins in routine fashion had me concerned, but two draws and this first loss suggest that there are actually some recreational players in your area that are potentially decent competition. Hopefully they're active and you can build a good community.

Red and blue Yonex. Black Adidas full length wrist band. Lefty. Non-dominant wrist watch. Grew up playing in clay in Germany. He could play, but he was both terrible at calling lines (I hit a bh DTL that landed 6-7” inside sideline, and he called it out), and quick to challenge my calls despite the court being dusty with obvious ball marks, even after I’d corrected some of my own calls in his favor. Made the experience a bit less enjoyable.

 

[travlerajm]

After yesterday’s rock bottom performance left me in a state of bad tennis level induced depression, I woke up this morning determined to right the ship.

I had another flex league match today, and opponent had reserved a 2.5h window of back-to-back time slots.

I wasn’t sure if my body would be able to survive it. But more importantly, I had to find a way to get the sour taste out from laying a turd of a performance on the court yesterday.

Immediately after breakfast, I went to work on reconfiguring my racquet to a happier place…

 

[travlerajm]

I furiously disassembled my worthless frame from yesterday and rebuilt it into a fully weaponized beast. 90g heavier than yesterday.

I left home 2h before my match to test out my new setup on the wall first, where I added a few more grams until I felt comfortable, and headed across town for my match…

 

[travlerajm]

Today’s opponent was a 100% reliability 6.xx UTR. He had lasted the whole 2.5h last week against the opponent who I failed to close out within 2.5h, so I thought he could be dangerous.

He showed up with a bright neon yellow Babolat, and wore a sleeveless shirt like Rafa, so I wasn’t that worried.

It turned out that my new weapon was fully operational for slices and blocks, and I felt great on volleys and overheads when I came to net.

Opponent had solid 2hb, but he some issues on his fh that he tried to conceal by ripping big on fh in warmup. But I figured out by the end of first game that his fh was the weaker wing.

I ended up winning easily. Then we kept playing sets until our 2.5h indoor time window ended. I won 6-0, 6-2, 6-0, 6-2.

It was easily the best I felt yet in any of my UTR league matches. Felt more like myself. I’d say I had my B+ game, finally playing like a high 4.5 like I’m supposed to. I would have handled yesterday’s opponent fairly comfortably if I had had today’s level at my disposal.

My mood is a lot better after solving my issues and getting back to decent level.

 

[schmke]

Today’s opponent was a 100% reliability 6.xx UTR. He had lasted the whole 2.5h last week against the opponent who I failed to close out within 2.5h, so I thought he could be dangerous.

He showed up with a bright neon yellow Babolat, and wore a sleeveless shirt like Rafa, so I wasn’t that worried.

It turned out that my new weapon was fully operational for slices and blocks, and I felt great on volleys and overheads when I came to net.

Opponent had solid 2hb, but he some issues on his fh that he tried to conceal by ripping big on fh in warmup. But I figured out by the end of first game that his fh was the weaker wing.

I ended up winning easily. Then we kept playing sets until our 2.5h indoor time window ended. I won 6-0, 6-2, 6-0, 6-2.

It was easily the best I felt yet in any of my UTR league matches. Felt more like myself. I’d say I had my B+ game. I would have handled yesterday’s opponent fairly comfortably if I had had today’s level at my disposal.

My mood is a lot better after solving my issues and getting back to decent level.

Ok now, quit fiddling with your racquet and stick with this one!

 

[chic]

Ok now, quit fiddling with your racquet and stick with this one!

That would take all the fun out for the viewers

 

[travlerajm]

It looks like UTR is making an effort to get higher-level flex leagues going by offering free league entry.

I just got the free league entry invite email from UTR league coordinator.

 

[Injured Again]

It looks like UTR is making an effort to get higher-level flex leagues going by offering free league entry.

I just got the free league entry invite email from UTR league coordinator.

Curious why now that you are playing singles, that you did not play this:

USTA /

Probably the only level 3 in our area this year, along with the level 2 Washington State.

 

[travlerajm]

Curious why now that you are playing singles, that you did not play this:

USTA /

Probably the only level 3 in our area this year, along with the level 2 Washington State.

Didn’t know about it. But I haven’t been playing enough to feel tourney confident. I haven’t been on a tennis court in a month outside of UTR flex league matches.

Sunday was first day in a while I felt like myself.

 

[Injured Again]

Didn’t know about it. But I haven’t been playing enough to feel tourney confident. I haven’t been on a tennis court in a month outside of UTR flex league matches.

Sunday was first day in a while I felt like myself.

Play it next year! It’s been held every January at my club for several decades now.

 

[ChaelAZ]

Curious why now that you are playing singles, that you did not play this:

USTA /

Probably the only level 3 in our area this year, along with the level 2 Washington State.

Two things:

First, I am still offended 35 and over is called senior. Second, wish AZ would have more tourneys like this. Looks like a great turnout.

 

[travlerajm]

Speaking of tournaments, I just email from UTR to say that I’ve been entered into the Seattle City Championships starting next week. The format will be a 4-player single elimination playoff bracket.

 

[travlerajm]

Looking for someone to play at Sand point Friday 10pm.

 

[travlerajm]

Update:

The good news:
I just received the email today receiving another $15 TW gift card for finishing in first place in my flex league division again.

The bad news:
I haven’t been able to play much tennis lately due to difficulty finding indoor courts in post-pandemic Seattle, and difficulty rebuilding my little black book of reliable practice mates, as I’ve been living out of the country for most of the last several years, and my go-to guy was coerced by his wife to move to a remote cabin in the woods far away from tennis.

The last time I practiced singles on hardcourt outside of the flex league matches was in November, nearly 2 months ago.

Considering signing up for usta singles flex league, entry deadline today, just to get court time.

 

[travlerajm]

Update:

For the first time in 3 weeks, I got a call-up.

Random dude texts me and says he’s from the UTR flex league ladder has a court later today.

Since I had hardly been on court in last 3 weeks I jumped at the chance to hit. Didn’t have time to look him up.

In warm-up, he asked me if I had played UTR before. Told him I’d done it for a couple of months. He said this was his first UTR flex league. I asked him if he had a rating? He said he did, but it was 40% reliable. But he didn’t tell me what his rating was.

He was young, mid 20s, with backward hat and 2 orange radicals, so I figured he could play.

But then I discovered that he had brought his girlfriend with him to sit courtside at the indoor facility and watch his match. So his pre-match TTW rating took a hit.

He seemed quite solid in warmup on groundies both wings. Hitting crisper and cleaner than me. Strong lag lock forehand. Less comfortable at net. He aced me twice in warmup.

We start match, and he’s aggressively running around his backhand to crush forehands, and doing it well, for the first 2 points to go up 30-0. But then he came back down to earth.

I got out to a 3-0 lead, then fetched water as I’d forgotten to bring some in the rush.

Next game, I let him have the point on a double bouncer that he didn’t call on himself, and he snagged a break to get to 3-1. But then I realized that the running around the bh early was a misdirection to get me to play to his bh. I started playing his fh and I pulled away after that. His level dropped precipitously after the first set, and I only lost 2 points in the 2nd. He self-destructed and I poked and pushed. I wasn’t playing that well, but didn’t really have to today.

6-1, 6-0 in 45 minutes. We still had 10 minutes left on our 1:15 time slot, so I suggested we play a baseline game. I got up to 7-0 and he tapped out. Frustrated with his poor level.

Turns out he has a 40% reliability UTR 7.xx rating.

 

[ktx]

We start match, and he’s aggressively running around his backhand to crush forehands, and doing it well, for the first 2 points to go up 30-0.

As soon as I read this, I know a bagel is incoming!

 

[travlerajm]

The mantra of the UTR defendants has been that if you play enough matches, it works.

My opponent from yesterday has logged 31 UTR-rated singles matches within the last 12 months. Yet his reliability rating remains at 40%, and his UTR is mysteriously higher than mine. How does the UTR crew defend this?

 

[jhick]

The mantra of the UTR defendants has been that if you play enough matches, it works.

My opponent from yesterday has logged 31 UTR-rated singles matches within the last 12 months. Yet his reliability rating remains at 40%, and his UTR is mysteriously higher than mine. How does the UTR crew defend this?

Perhaps a match up anomaly? It's possible he might beat other guys you lose to? Or he was distracted by his girlfriend and by trying to impress her he instead crumbled? 40% is not super reliable so maybe his UTR is inflated. My thoughts are that UTR does seem to work better at high levels. This is arbitrary but below 9 UTR seems like more of a crap shoot.

 

[FuzzyYellowBalls]

The mantra of the UTR defendants has been that if you play enough matches, it works.

My opponent from yesterday has logged 31 UTR-rated singles matches within the last 12 months. Yet his reliability rating remains at 40%, and his UTR is mysteriously higher than mine. How does the UTR crew defend this?

No way to explain it without knowing his name, you can pm me if you want, but if the 31 UTR matches he had were December-January this year that would be hard to explain, I bet since you said 12 months, they were way last year and the results were so random it killed his %.

 

[travlerajm]

Perhaps a match up anomaly? It's possible he might beat other guys you lose to? Or he was distracted by his girlfriend and by trying to impress her he instead crumbled? 40% is not super reliable so maybe his UTR is inflated. My thoughts are that UTR does seem to work better at high levels. This is arbitrary but below 9 UTR seems like more of a crap shoot.

I introduced myself to her after the match. She was very cute and smiley.

He declared proudly: “this is the girlfriend.”

I replied: “that was my first guess.”

 

[jhick]

I introduced myself to her after the match. She was very cute and smiley.

He said proudly: “this is the girlfriend.”

I replied: “that was my first guess.”

You should have asked her if she'd like to play tennis sometime.

 

[chuckersthenut]

I introduced myself to her after the match. She was very cute and smiley.

He declared proudly: “this is the girlfriend.”

I replied: “that was my first guess.”

This was your girlfriend. Lol.


Let me know if you're ever around oklahoma. I'd love to try you out.

 

[Moon Shooter]

The mantra of the UTR defendants has been that if you play enough matches, it works.

My opponent from yesterday has logged 31 UTR-rated singles matches within the last 12 months. Yet his reliability rating remains at 40%, and his UTR is mysteriously higher than mine. How does the UTR crew defend this?

Were 30 of the matches against the same guy who also only played against him? I mean he said this was his first flex league. Did he play 31 matches in it already? It all depends on how many matches his opponents played as well.

But I agree that is very odd. I think the defenders of UTR would look at things like this:
final standings for the 2023 competition:

"Singles and doubles combined:
UTR: 339-127 (72.7%)
TLS: 196-102 (65.8%)
TR: 295-161 (64.7%)
WTN: 362-228 (61.4%)"

2023 Match Result Prediction Competition

This is true, in doing my ratings/reports I regularly observe that a player will have their match results vary +/- 0.2 if not a bit more. Variability in how one plays, match-ups, partners, etc. all influence this and this is normal. Still, even with this variability and my attempt to more or...

tt.tennis-warehouse.com

I have seen plenty of crazy results from all the rating systems. Even USTA which uses the crudest rating system that groups about 75% of the players into 3 big groups has some odd results:

Analyzing 2023 USTA NTRP year-end ratings - What strange or unexpected bumps were there?

2023 USTA NTRP year-end ratings are out and I've taken a look at bump rates by section and by level , and before slicing the data more, I t...

computerratings.blogspot.com

 

[FuzzyYellowBalls]

I'll categorize myself as an explainer of UTR, not a defender, "31 matches in 12 months" is probably true, but as we have seen before @travlerajm you often frame information like this without the details so it looks like an inaccuracy, when a 30 second glance at all the data explains it pretty easily, come on, admit it haha.

 

[travlerajm]

I'll categorize myself as an explainer of UTR, not a defender, "31 matches in 12 months" is probably true, but as we have seen before @travlerajm you often frame information like this without the details so it looks like an inaccuracy, when a 30 second glance at all the data explains it pretty easily, come on, admit it haha.

I will connect you with Quinn from UTR HQ. You are better at explaining than he is, so maybe he will hire you back onto a retainer?

 

[FuzzyYellowBalls]

I will connect you with Quinn from UTR HQ. You are better at explaining than he is, so maybe he will hire you back onto a retainer?

I mean, if I could get paid to do that I would lol as a side gig, is Quinn on good terms with you or when he sees your email come in is he like "oh no, not this guy again"

 

[travlerajm]

I mean, if I could get paid to do that I would lol as a side gig, is Quinn on good terms with you or when he sees your email come in is he like "oh no, not this guy again"

Now that I’m getting full ride scholarship into my UTR leagues, we’re on good terms again.

 

[Dags]

The mantra of the UTR defendants has been that if you play enough matches, it works.

My opponent from yesterday has logged 31 UTR-rated singles matches within the last 12 months. Yet his reliability rating remains at 40%, and his UTR is mysteriously higher than mine. How does the UTR crew defend this?

The percentile accuracy is raising more than a few eyebrows. You've had multiple wins (I've lost count), two draws and a single loss. How they can claim this is 100% your level makes no sense to me... I don't see how a ceiling (or floor) can be set without several wins and losses.

Your match report suggests that this opponent simply isn't that good, not that he had an unusually bad day or a particularly horrible match up against your style. The 40% with so many matches suggests UTR doesn't know what to do with him, which is odd given how quick it was to judge you. Did this guy do anything unusual like jump into open level tournaments? I remember when UTR first launched, there was a thread about a guy who lived near some futures tournaments. They weren't always full, so he'd occasionally sneak into qualifiers as an alternate. Got smoked of course, but because they were the only matches he'd played, UTR gave him a 10 just by virtue of being there. That would obviously be very extreme, but it does strike me that the system expects you to start playing opponents somewhere close to your level.

 

[FuzzyYellowBalls]

The percentile accuracy is raising more than a few eyebrows. You've had multiple wins (I've lost count), two draws and a single loss. How they can claim this is 100% your level makes no sense to me... I don't see how a ceiling (or floor) can be set without several wins and losses.

Your match report suggests that this opponent simply isn't that good, not that he had an unusually bad day or a particularly horrible match up against your style. The 40% with so many matches suggests UTR doesn't know what to do with him, which is odd given how quick it was to judge you. Did this guy do anything unusual like jump into open level tournaments? I remember when UTR first launched, there was a thread about a guy who lived near some futures tournaments. They weren't always full, so he'd occasionally sneak into qualifiers as an alternate. Got smoked of course, but because they were the only matches he'd played, UTR gave him a 10 just by virtue of being there. That would obviously be very extreme, but it does strike me that the system expects you to start playing opponents somewhere close to your level.

Edit: Oh, it's an official match, edited for the mistake, I thought it was an unrated friendly. For some reason when I looked the match didn't' show up and now it does.

 

[TennisOTM]

The mantra of the UTR defendants has been that if you play enough matches, it works.

My opponent from yesterday has logged 31 UTR-rated singles matches within the last 12 months. Yet his reliability rating remains at 40%, and his UTR is mysteriously higher than mine. How does the UTR crew defend this?

I found him and yes, that 7+ rating for him is baffling. Before you he had played 5 different UTR 6.XX opponets in the last year and lost to all of them in straight sets. He has some wins against UTR 5.XX players but none of them were blowouts. He lost a couple matches against UTR 4.XX players. He even lost a set against a 100% confident UTR 3.XX.

There is no possible way the math should come out UTR > 7 for him, I don't get it. I can't explain how you keep experiencing these strange UTR anomalies. My only defense of UTR is that it seems to work pretty well for most players who are active in UTSA leagues (which this guy is not - he does not even have a computer rating).

 

[travlerajm]

I found him and yes, that 7+ rating for him is baffling. Before you he had played 5 different UTR 6.XX opponets in the last year and lost to all of them in straight sets. He has some wins against UTR 5.XX players but none of them were blowouts. He lost a couple matches against UTR 4.XX players. He even lost a set against a 100% confident UTR 3.XX.

There is no possible way the math should come out UTR > 7 for him, I don't get it. I can't explain how you keep experiencing these strange UTR anomalies. My only defense of UTR is that it seems to work pretty well for most players who are active in UTSA leagues (which this guy is not - he does not even have a computer rating).

Strangely, TR has logged 10 matches for him in the last year. But didn’t calculate a dynamic rating despite having ratings for all of his opponents. Has him listed as 4.0S. His name didn’t come up when I searched on tennislink.

He’s unratable! (but lucky for him not undatable)

 

[travlerajm]

I found him and yes, that 7+ rating for him is baffling. Before you he had played 5 different UTR 6.XX opponets in the last year and lost to all of them in straight sets. He has some wins against UTR 5.XX players but none of them were blowouts. He lost a couple matches against UTR 4.XX players. He even lost a set against a 100% confident UTR 3.XX.

There is no possible way the math should come out UTR > 7 for him, I don't get it. I can't explain how you keep experiencing these strange UTR anomalies. My only defense of UTR is that it seems to work pretty well for most players who are active in UTSA leagues (which this guy is not - he does not even have a computer rating).

I’m guessing that the UTR algo can’t handle him because he has played against too wide a range of players.

The algo has a stupid piece of code that tells it to ignore matches where there is >2.0 UTR units level gap between opponents, unless the lower rated player wins.

So in this case, the algo is confused about whether it should count his 1 game won result vs. a UTR 9.xx and ignore his wins against 5.xx opponents. So it hedges and discounts his reliability.

To illustrate how poorly considered this piece of code is, consider the situation with 8.0 mixed, where a typical match might pit a UTR 8/3 combo against a 6/5.

The majority of these mixed matches don’t count toward the 8’s rating, but in the 30-40% of the time that the 8/3 loses to the 6/5, it counts. Thus biasing the ratings of all 4 players.

 

[FuzzyYellowBalls]

The most solid ratings for his opponents were in that 3.5 mens Labor day tournament where he beat the UTR 4 and UTR 5 , that should have brought his UTR 7 rating down a little to 6 or even 5 based on the non dominant scores. The problem is the rest of the opponents are UTR unrated or not 100% so adds more confusion. But, for sure , he should not be 7......

AND he is playing the same people more than once who area also not 100% so i t's this churn of UTR not 100% rated or verified soup he is mixed up in....

BUT he shouldn't be a 7 so that's why he is 40%. He's probably a 100% 5 or 6.

So , yeah, some funkiness for sure, but like I said, not quite 31 matches of solid 100% verified non repeat opponents in 12 months like I guessed.

 

[FuzzyYellowBalls]

I’m guessing that the UTR algo can’t handle him because he has played against too wide a range of players.

The algo has a stupid piece of code that tells it to ignore matches where there is >2.0 UTR units level gap between opponents, unless the lower rated player wins.

So in this case, the algo is confused about whether it should count his 1 game won result vs. a UTR 9.xx and ignore his wins against 5.xx opponents. So it hedges and discounts his reliability.

To illustrate how poorly considered this piece of code is, consider the situation with 8.0 mixed, where a typical match might pit a UTR 8/3 combo against a 6/5.

The majority of these mixed matches don’t count toward the 8’s rating, but in the 30-40% of the time that the 8/3 loses to the 6/5, it counts. Thus biasing the ratings of all 4 players.

solid theory. You will have to invent your own ratings for 8.0 mixed lolz, call it T-Jams Jimmy Jam Mixed ratings

 

[travlerajm]

solid theory. You will have to invent your own ratings for 8.0 mixed lolz, call it T-Jams Jimmy Jam Mixed ratings

If UTR would just delete the >2.0 gap rule from the algo, it would be 3x more accurate all around.