First Open Tournament at 45 years old

[Heck]

A little info about me. 45 year old male who only started playing again after a 20 year break. I started back only after my niece 11 started a program and I wanted to help her. I got hooked and started playing with a local group and had fun getting in shape and re learning old and even new things.

I did a ton of You Tube learning and joined the USTA because I was invited to a league. I was self rated at 3.0 but I improved so much that I expect to be 3.5.

I signed up for this round robin tournament when only 5 players were on the list but now it is at 17. I know a open can mean I have a 99.9% chance of being blown off the court. I know on paper this is a bad move and could possibly cause major mental trauma. But I have no fear and as of today I am excited to get playing! I must be a fool lmao.

Reg is now closed so do they send out the time when it starts via email? On the USTA page it says
matches start in the late afternoon.

Round robin means I may get 2 chances to lose?

 

[LFC]

Don't sweat it! You may get blown off the court, but it will be useful to see where your flaws are from a player who is more advanced. Go into your match aggressively and go for your shots. Try to avoid shots in the middle of the court as those may get punished frequently.

You'll see a draw posted tonight or tomorrow with a start time for your first match. And yes, you''ll play a second match.

Have fun, rip some forehands, and don't be intimidated.

 

[Deleted member 23235]

if/when you get smoked make sure you asked the winner if they could give you 3 things you should work on
i've played an open tourney, where my opp was a complete newbie.. i was done in 15-20m.
afterwards I spent some time giving them tips on the correct grips for various strokes.
on the flip side, i've been smoked (quickly) by d1 and former tour guys... i had more fun hitting/drilling with them afterwards, and also asked them for tips.

 

[ncgator]

Most open tournament winners at 45 yrs and older are at least 4.5 rated players. Just look at it as a learning opportunity to see what aspects of your game need the most improvement. Most tournament players have very good placement, and good drop shots if you are camped out at the baseline.

 

[Heck]

The draw just came out and it was kind to me lol. 3 rounds 1 set per round. This is a one day event.
Looking at my matches I have one guy who is a 3.5 another who has 3 events but went 4 round to win his last one a week ago.
Then the 3rd is the 7th seed who has a tourney record of 15 events this year.

I feel I am going to get a even taste of the draw with that line up.

 

[Nacho]

Reg is now closed so do they send out the time when it starts via email? On the USTA page it says
matches start in the late afternoon.

Round robin means I may get 2 chances to lose?

1) Typically you will either need to stop by the club, call or can check the draw on the USTA website to find out your time. This happens either the day before or several days. You will not get an email, and late afternoon means anything. The tournament director is responsible for writing all of the stuff on the tournament page and the USTA doesn't manage this. If you are concerned about a time it is best to reach out to the tournament director beforehand.

2) Round Robin tournament is different then a standard tournament. Round Robin denotes several different formats and multiple matches. The tournament director will be able to explain it to you. A standard tournament features a main draw and then consolation, so a minimum of 2 matches.

I would suggest signing up in age brackets tournaments as the open tournaments attract a smorgasbord of players and can be discouraging if you get bounced out easily and quickly. The open tournaments (depending on the tournament and money) are mostly filled with ex college players or high level adult players, and then a smattering of players playing for fun like yourself. Age bracket tournaments at local levels will usually have many of your peers with the occasional high level adult player, so you have more of a chance.

Good luck

 

[Heck]

1) Typically you will either need to stop by the club, call or can check the draw on the USTA website to find out your time. This happens either the day before or several days. You will not get an email, and late afternoon means anything. The tournament director is responsible for writing all of the stuff on the tournament page and the USTA doesn't manage this. If you are concerned about a time it is best to reach out to the tournament director beforehand.

2) Round Robin tournament is different then a standard tournament. Round Robin denotes several different formats and multiple matches. The tournament director will be able to explain it to you. A standard tournament features a main draw and then consolation, so a minimum of 2 matches.

I would suggest signing up in age brackets tournaments as the open tournaments attract a smorgasbord of players and can be discouraging if you get bounced out easily and quickly. The open tournaments (depending on the tournament and money) are mostly filled with ex college players or high level adult players, and then a smattering of players playing for fun like yourself. Age bracket tournaments at local levels will usually have many of your peers with the occasional high level adult player, so you have more of a chance.

Good luck

I seen a update on the USTA site with the time when the matches start. Looks like I get 3 matches of one set each. I am eager to get out there and give it a go. I just want to do my best and not worry about
the score or the end result because for me the experience is what I am going for. Now if I get up 5 to 0 on a guy and fall apart to lose then I will be pissed

 

[S&V-not_dead_yet]

I seen a update on the USTA site with the time when the matches start. Looks like I get 3 matches of one set each. I am eager to get out there and give it a go. I just want to do my best and not worry about
the score or the end result because for me the experience is what I am going for. Now if I get up 5 to 0 on a guy and fall apart to lose then I will be pissed

Stay loose and go for it!

 

[xFullCourtTenniSx]

If nothing else, after a few tournaments, you should've run into a big server or two (and maybe a guy who's like 6'4"+) and will learn to deal with those serves.

Then when you join a league and face someone that's like 6'3" hitting serves at like 80% of those speeds, you already know what to do and can easily break him all day.

 

[dgold44]

A little info about me. 45 year old male who only started playing again after a 20 year break. I started back only after my niece 11 started a program and I wanted to help her. I got hooked and started playing with a local group and had fun getting in shape and re learning old and even new things.

I did a ton of You Tube learning and joined the USTA because I was invited to a league. I was self rated at 3.0 but I improved so much that I expect to be 3.5.

I signed up for this round robin tournament when only 5 players were on the list but now it is at 17. I know a open can mean I have a 99.9% chance of being blown off the court. I know on paper this is a bad move and could possibly cause major mental trauma. But I have no fear and as of today I am excited to get playing! I must be a fool lmao.

Reg is now closed so do they send out the time when it starts via email? On the USTA page it says
matches start in the late afternoon.

Round robin means I may get 2 chances to lose?

Open is going to be miserable for you, no offense. Why not just play 3.5 or 4.0.
I mean open is so strong that the weakest players are good 4.5 level to up to 5.5 giants.
I played open a few times I was crushed to death that I never played it again because the competition is way beyond me.

 

[dgold44]

Most open tournament winners at 45 yrs and older are at least 4.5 rated players. Just look at it as a learning opportunity to see what aspects of your game need the most improvement. Most tournament players have very good placement, and good drop shots if you are camped out at the baseline.

The mens 45 singles is pretty damn tough and probably superior to the Mens general 4.5 level.
So many of the 45 guys are former 5.0 to 5.5 players who have excellent placement and make few mistakes.
I would never play age events because its too HARD !! I rather just play based on rating

 

[Heck]

Getting beat so bad was never so much fun lol. I just never faced a serve the first guy had and never got a chance to adjust to the speed and heavy spin. I blocked it back and he just had easy put away shots.
When I hit my good serve it looked like a wiffle ball going across the court lmao. That was a 6-0 loss. The next guy was 31 and I should of beat him but I made bad errors at the wrong times. Another 6-0 loss.
Then the last guy was about 25 or so and tall. We had a good match with some nice points but I could only get a game off of him 6-1.

Over all it was a great experience and I got to hit with the last guy at the end for a hour and a half and got a free lesson that helped me out.

I think to win a few more games I need to work on return of serve and consistency. I also made the mistake changing strings and breaking them in the cold outdoor weather. When I hit a few hours later indoors
it was a whole different feel but I don't think that would of helped but I will try to avoid doing that again lol.