USTA tournaments

spiritdragon said:

i have yet to play a usta tournament and am not sure what type of tournament i should play in. i guess i'm about a 4.0 to 4.5 player but there aren't many tournaments near me that have ntrp tournaments. i've noticed that some of the tournaments will say 3.0 - 4.5. does this mean that all the people within that range will play against each other or that there will be separate brackets for each rating? one last thing i was wondering was what the level range for open tournaments were and whether or not i should try competing in them. Thanks in advance.

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rasajadad said:

If you're having trouble getting NTRP events in your area, look up the age group events. A lot of people (including me) prefer them.

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chlsmo said:

I am by no means an expert but...

3.0 - 4.5 should mean that there will be separate divisions. 3.0, 3.5, 4.0, & 4.5. Have you played any USTA? If not, have you played anyone else who has? How did you do against them and what was their NTRP rating? I do not know your background in tennis so I won't really make any comments on what level you should play at.

Here in So. Cal. the opens are 5.0+. I am pretty sure that money attracts the better players 5.5+. I know that some 4.5's will play Opens and usually get killed. How long have you been playing tennis?

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spiritdragon said:

I am not sure if the people I've played have ntrp ratings but i am confident from watching videos and looking at the self rate page that the players I play against range from 4.0 to 5.0.with the exception of the 4.5+ players the scores are usually kept really close.

I am in the Eastern Long Island region and if the open level is 5.0+ i guess i would probably get crushed in them, although i do enjoy the challenge.

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IanRichardson said:

spiritdragon,

If you look at the self rating stuff, I would find the one that reads close to what you are. For example if you sound like a 4.0 from the way it reads, I would play 3.5 in USTA tournaments because people sandbag like crazy in USTA tournaments.

As an example of this, at the club I used to play at we did non USTA leagues an d I played a 4.0 league. At my first USTA tournament I show up and most of the people who had beaten me at the club were playing in the 3.5 division.

.

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goober said:

Well you can look at it from the other perspective that most clubs leauges and players over rate themselves

Ratings are just a number. The mean nothing with out the context they are given. I have beaten some old guy that claimed he was 5.0 rated at his club. I have also lost to people with 4.0 USTA ratings that are teaching pros/former college players.

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spiritdragon said:

thanks guys for all the responses but i would still like to know whether i would be able to participate in boys 18 or mens 20s since i am 19 years old and there doesnt seem to be mens 19s. i would also like to know what the level range is in age group tournaments. thanks!

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chlsmo said:

I would recommend that you play USTA 4.0 and see how it goes. How long have you been playing?

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Midlife crisis said:

My experience is that most tournaments have a 32 person draw, so if you were to get to the finals, you'd have to play five matches. This will usual be in three, four, or five different days so you don't want to be so far away that it's a chore (and expensive on gas) to drive two hours each day for three to five days.

Where I am, I find that more people under-rate for USTA league than for tournaments, and that for tournaments, there will be a number of players playing up. Consequently, there will be a number of 6-0, 6-1 matches early on, then the matches are more competitive for about the last eight.

Last, to echo some of the others, if you haven't played much competitive tennis, you'll most likely find you can't play nearly as wel in a match situation as you can casually rallying. I'd also say that you pick where you think you are based on the USTA rating guide and then go down one full level.

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spiritdragon said:

Thanks for the advice! the thing that sux tho is that i can't find tournaments that are close to me that i am able to participate in. most of them are junior tournaments.

When i rated myself, i based it on my play during match play. when i practice with my friends we rally first and then play a set or 2 or if we have a bunch of people we usually play a few games and winner stays on since we usually only have one court available (shows how much my school sux. they took down the main courts in fall and have not even begun construction). however, i do understand your concern but i think that i would rather try playing a 4.0 tournament because i know that when i play against better people, i up my game and i think i will be able to gain more experience.

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