jcgatennismom
Hall of Fame
Tomorrow 2/8 ITA will publish 1st singles rankings of 2023; last rankings were 11/16. Should be major changes, e.g Ethan Quinn who was #1 after 9-0 fall is 2-6 in dual matches. The rest of the regulars in the GA lineup-most of whom had ITA ranking in fall, also have had a <.5 win rate except for Bryde who is 7-1, the one bright spot-positive change for Trent after underperforming spring 22. Guisca, the Clemson grad transfer who was #70 after fall is 1-7 for spring. Anyway these flips from fall to spring make me wonder how accurate the NCAA individuals will be when held in fall '24 and '25. Lot more pressure when playing as a team esp away vs playing big fall events at neutral sites as individuals. Will be interesting to see what other players have big drops from Nov; obviously there will be guys who didnt play in the fall who will show up in Feb rankings. Does anyone know how many countable wins will be used in ranking calculation? I assume all loss points will count in denominator.
Since Challenger WCs will be earned for players with YE rankings in ITA top 20, do you think there will be pressure to play out matches? Imagine an ITA ranked #30 is leading an ITA top 10 in 3rd set when match is clinched. Whether or not the match is played out could affect whether player earns WCs. For many of the top 20 P5 teams, the 1s and 2s will be in ITA top 20 but players lower in the lineup may have high rankings due to fall play. Coaches have interchanged spots in the lineup in the past at their discretion; with WCs at stake, I wonder if players will be less willing to play down a spot if requested. For most teams, players are just focused on the team wins in spring- will competition for top ITA rankingWCs have impact on team unity and bonding? I dont think it will this year as this is new policy but I wonder for future years. Also just as recruits may negotiate with coaches about Future/Challenger play in fall, I wonder if recruits coming in with top ATP rankings will ask to be guaranteed a 1 or 2 spot in lineup. After seeing Shelton move up 500 spots in <year to reach top 50ATP, I think a lot of global teen players in the ATP400-700 range (maybe not clay specialists) will consider playing college tennis but they may want guarantees.
It is great that Challenger WCs will be available but it will be interesting to see if there are any unintended consequences. I also wonder the impact for US players if the 20 players who could earn 6-8 WCs decide to stay in the US over the summer vs playing some of those Challengers in their home country. Does anyone know how many WCs the host campus will be able to keep for their own current or former players vs giving them out to the top ITA ranked players? KY, VA, OSU, ILL, Tenn host Challengers plus I assume WCs for the Cary Challenger go to UNC, Wake, Duke, and NC State players. If a top 20 player attends a host university and would earn a WC anyway, will that WC count against their 6-8?
Top junior world top 20 will also earn Challenger WCs. Some train in Florida or California and may be competing with collegians for summer and fall WCs. From May-Dec 22, 15 challengers will be held in US; there are 6 held earlier in year. Assuming 4 WC for Qualis and 4 for MD, that is 60 available in US out of which some WC will go to university and/or local players. The top 10 collegians will earn 60-80 MD WCs and same for 11-20 for Qualis. When you include the jr WCs, there are less than 1/2 the WC available as needed if players want to play in US. Will be interesting to see how USTA/ITF work out priorities for WCs-maybe the juniors who want to play US challengers will have to take WCs from Jan-April to leave fall open for collegians. Maybe some of the collegians will play Canadian challengers but Canada may only allow for Canadian collegians (eg mainly KY LOL). Juniors ITF world 21-30 will also be eligible for 8 Future 15 or 25K MD spots. Unfortunately there are no Future WC allocated for ITA players ranked 21-30 so hitting ITA top 20 will be critical for collegians.
Please share if you have heard how these WC policies will work-how players will get to choose where to use their earned WCs, esp if too many players request the same tournament. These opportunities start 7/2023. https://www.wearecollegetennis.com/...unite-to-accelerate-professional-development/
Since Challenger WCs will be earned for players with YE rankings in ITA top 20, do you think there will be pressure to play out matches? Imagine an ITA ranked #30 is leading an ITA top 10 in 3rd set when match is clinched. Whether or not the match is played out could affect whether player earns WCs. For many of the top 20 P5 teams, the 1s and 2s will be in ITA top 20 but players lower in the lineup may have high rankings due to fall play. Coaches have interchanged spots in the lineup in the past at their discretion; with WCs at stake, I wonder if players will be less willing to play down a spot if requested. For most teams, players are just focused on the team wins in spring- will competition for top ITA rankingWCs have impact on team unity and bonding? I dont think it will this year as this is new policy but I wonder for future years. Also just as recruits may negotiate with coaches about Future/Challenger play in fall, I wonder if recruits coming in with top ATP rankings will ask to be guaranteed a 1 or 2 spot in lineup. After seeing Shelton move up 500 spots in <year to reach top 50ATP, I think a lot of global teen players in the ATP400-700 range (maybe not clay specialists) will consider playing college tennis but they may want guarantees.
It is great that Challenger WCs will be available but it will be interesting to see if there are any unintended consequences. I also wonder the impact for US players if the 20 players who could earn 6-8 WCs decide to stay in the US over the summer vs playing some of those Challengers in their home country. Does anyone know how many WCs the host campus will be able to keep for their own current or former players vs giving them out to the top ITA ranked players? KY, VA, OSU, ILL, Tenn host Challengers plus I assume WCs for the Cary Challenger go to UNC, Wake, Duke, and NC State players. If a top 20 player attends a host university and would earn a WC anyway, will that WC count against their 6-8?
Top junior world top 20 will also earn Challenger WCs. Some train in Florida or California and may be competing with collegians for summer and fall WCs. From May-Dec 22, 15 challengers will be held in US; there are 6 held earlier in year. Assuming 4 WC for Qualis and 4 for MD, that is 60 available in US out of which some WC will go to university and/or local players. The top 10 collegians will earn 60-80 MD WCs and same for 11-20 for Qualis. When you include the jr WCs, there are less than 1/2 the WC available as needed if players want to play in US. Will be interesting to see how USTA/ITF work out priorities for WCs-maybe the juniors who want to play US challengers will have to take WCs from Jan-April to leave fall open for collegians. Maybe some of the collegians will play Canadian challengers but Canada may only allow for Canadian collegians (eg mainly KY LOL). Juniors ITF world 21-30 will also be eligible for 8 Future 15 or 25K MD spots. Unfortunately there are no Future WC allocated for ITA players ranked 21-30 so hitting ITA top 20 will be critical for collegians.
Please share if you have heard how these WC policies will work-how players will get to choose where to use their earned WCs, esp if too many players request the same tournament. These opportunities start 7/2023. https://www.wearecollegetennis.com/...unite-to-accelerate-professional-development/
