USTA Hijinks: Should one player be highly seeded in two separate NTRP divisions at once?

The #1 seed in an upcoming 3.5 USTA Sanctioned mens tournament is also in the 4.0 draw as the #2 seed. Both draws have at least 16 players. It would seem this seeding is suspicious; although he could have legitimately won enough points playing "up" (i.e. at his true level) as a 4.0, if he is that good of a 4.0 he should not be playing in the 3.5 division at all. How is this guy competitive with a genuine 3.5 who would never get a seeding or go very far in a 4.0 draw at all?

Well, I'm sure it depends on the area. I've not been in a tournament where a player was allowed to play in 2 levels of singles at the same time.

Since the draws are so shallow around here it would be pretty easy to get enough "points" to be rated at both levels. If said player is being allowed to participate in both all the time, that seems very easy to do.

Pro Kenneth said:

How is this guy competitive with a genuine 3.5 who would never get a seeding or go very far in a 4.0 draw at all?

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It isn't like the USTA NTRP system where you go down for losses. Keep showing up and you'll get a win here or there.

You can look the rankings up on the USTA site to confirm though.

My understanding is that a TD puts in peoples' entries and the computer spits out the seeds based on points, perhaps even on dynamic rating. (I say the latter because I once got seeded when I had 0 tournament points)

I am surprised that a player would be allowed in 2 divisions of singles

ShaunS said:

Well, I'm sure it depends on the area. I've not been in a tournament where a player was allowed to play in 2 levels of singles at the same time.

Since the draws are so shallow around here it would be pretty easy to get enough "points" to be rated at both levels. If said player is being allowed to participate in both all the time, that seems very easy to do.


It isn't like the USTA NTRP system where you go down for losses. Keep showing up and you'll get a win here or there.

You can look the rankings up on the USTA site to confirm though.

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This is the most likely scenario, but to add to that...

I believe you have to play a certain amount of tournaments (it used to 3) in order for your points to count for something, so the other players in the draw may not have played enough tournaments to qualify for a seeding? You can click on their names in the draw & see what they've played this year.

I know I played a 35s tournament a few years back and got waxed 0 & 3 in the 1st round. Turns out the guy was a teaching pro and only played a couple tournaments a year, so he never got seeded. I didn't feel so badly about my results when he blew through the whole draw not losing more than 3 games per match, beating the #1 seed in the final 1 & 2...

Welcome to USTA Tournaments, where the seeds are made up and the points don't matter.
You can enter a 200 point tournament at 5.0 with one other player, finish second place and get 150 points. Top 4 tournaments count for points so you can do this 3 more times for 600 points. That will probably put you in the top 10 for 5.0 in most sections.

TD's typically won't let you play two levels of singles, but there is a player I know around here who, if they allowed it, would have enough points in both 4.0 and 4.5 to be seeded. He is a computer rated 4.0 (without cheating) but after winning everything at 4.0 singles, grew bored and moved up and is now winning everything at 4.5 singles. If he plays 4.0 now, it's at doubles only tournaments and he's not nearly as out of place in doubles at 4.0 as he is in singles.

Tournaments are a point system, not a dynamic rating system. If you play enough, you will accrue points and increase your ranking, resulting in getting a seed.