A First Time for Everything...

Well Sports Fans, for the upcoming USTA tournament, I just found out that I'm the top seed in my division (Men's 3.5). As long as I've been playing this is a first for me. Shocker huh?

Anyway, the most interesting thing is that my first round opponent is ranked very high in the Men's 3.0. As such, I'm sure it'll be a dogfight but we won't know until we play the game right?

Wish me luck and if any of you are also playing a tournament, good luck as well!

H76
 

goober

Legend
NTRP tourney seeds are in general not very meaningful. Having a high seed usually means you have played a lot of tournaments prior to the one you are currently doing. A person could be the #1 seed in a tourney and actually be a middle of the road type of player for the tourney field at that level.
 
NTRP tourney seeds are in general not very meaningful. Having a high seed usually means you have played a lot of tournaments prior to the one you are currently doing. A person could be the #1 seed in a tourney and actually be a middle of the road type of player for the tourney field at that level.

Actually, it simply means I'm the highest ranked player in my division playing in the tournament. If I were playing in the San Antonio tournament this weekend, I'd probably be the lowest ranked player in the draw.. LOL

I thought all (i.e. Nationwide) USTA tournaments used the rolling 12 month rakings as the basis for their seeding. Do other states/sections do theirs differently? Just curious.

And yes, I'm a middle of the road player and was surprised I ended up seeded... :)
 

goober

Legend
Actually, it simply means I'm the highest ranked player in my division playing in the tournament. If I were playing in the San Antonio tournament this weekend, I'd probably be the lowest ranked player in the draw.. LOL

I thought all (i.e. Nationwide) USTA tournaments used the rolling 12 month rakings as the basis for their seeding. Do other states/sections do theirs differently? Just curious.

And yes, I'm a middle of the road player and was surprised I ended up seeded... :)

Yah but your ranking points are accumulated from playing a lot of tournaments. yes the better do the more ranking points you would get. But you could have a decent ranking just by playing a lot and losing half the time. There are plenty of players who are not ranked or only play in 1-2 tournaments a year and have a low ranking and could easily win the tournament. All the top players in league play could clean up in NTRP tourneys as unranked players, but most of them avoid tourneys so they don't affect their ratings.
 

J_R_B

Hall of Fame
Actually, it simply means I'm the highest ranked player in my division playing in the tournament. If I were playing in the San Antonio tournament this weekend, I'd probably be the lowest ranked player in the draw.. LOL

I thought all (i.e. Nationwide) USTA tournaments used the rolling 12 month rakings as the basis for their seeding. Do other states/sections do theirs differently? Just curious.

And yes, I'm a middle of the road player and was surprised I ended up seeded... :)

The most important thing in the "rankings" (except at the very top) is to play a lot of tournaments and win just a couple matches, not to win a tournament or even be better than most people. If you'r playing a tournament without one of the top 3 ranked players in a division, the seeds are probably more dependent on who's played the most, not who is better or has better results.
 
I definitely agree that the more you play, the more ranking points you get. We all know however, to get to the top, you have to win the majority of the time as well as winning in the Major Zone and other bigger tournaments where there are more points available. Do I play a lot of tournaments? Depends on your definition. For 2012, I plan on 12 sanctioned tournaments so I'm averaging 1 tournament a month.

Seeding to me is only important because of the byes. I'm not yet as fit as I want or need to be to last the 3-4 matches to play in the span of 36 hours. But I'm still out there playing. And a bye definitely helps me physically... Because yeah I'm old...

Although I would be lying if I said I wasn't interested in ranking points, The only way I know how to get them is to just win. And who doesn't want to win???
 

spiderman123

Professional
Agree with J_R_B. I don't think he is downplaying your seeding but merely pointing out the fact that in any tournament, there could be multiple non-seeded players with a dynamic rating better than the seeds. They just happen to play in 1-2 tournaments so if you get matched up with some such then it would be tough.

He is just pointing out that there is no pressure even though you are seed #1.

Good luck. You will never forget the first tournament as #1 seed. Make it count. No pressure ;)
 

PowerPlay

Rookie
Yah but your ranking points are accumulated from playing a lot of tournaments. yes the better do the more ranking points you would get. But you could have a decent ranking just by playing a lot and losing half the time. There are plenty of players who are not ranked or only play in 1-2 tournaments a year and have a low ranking and could easily win the tournament. All the top players in league play could clean up in NTRP tourneys as unranked players, but most of them avoid tourneys so they don't affect their ratings.

Exactly right...well said.
 
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