I recently captained an 8.5 combo team where the best player on our team by a wide margin was rated 4.0 but in actuality is a high-4.5/low-5.0. Big Baller played DII tennis a decade ago and after graduation was a computer rated 4.5 for 2 or 3 years until she injured her back and had surgery. BB then sat out for 5 or 6 years during which time her game went soft and she gained a lot of weight. When she came back last summer, she, quite frankly, sucked and truly earned her losing record. Not illogically, USTA bumped her down to 4.0 at year end (they bumped her back to 4.5 this August ESL).
Over the past year, she has worked out, went from a bear to a stallion body-wise and is now scary good. Although she was rated 4.0, she continued to play 4.5 and so far this season is undefeated in singles.
When BB signed up for combo, I'd planned to use her as one of my 4.5s but then I saw the roster and, like any captain worth their competitive salt, I thought BONUS! I didn't play 4.5 this season so I had no idea she was hitting this well when I paired her with a 4.5 the first combo match. During the match, on two separate occasions she cracked the ball so hard the opposing 4.5 fell down on her butt fighting off the shot. I'm not talking about an overhead at the net player, these were groundstrokes from behind the baseline that the woman couldn't volley.
After the match, the 4.0 came off the court and stood with her captain a few feet directly behind where I was sitting, animatedly recounting the many times BB had scared skid marks out of her and her partner. When she said BB was probably illegally sandbagging, I turned around and politely told them Big Baller was computer rated so there was no point protesting. They quickly changed the subject.
To my knowledge, nobody else complained after playing her and we cruised to the finals. Our opponent was the same team from the first match and BB again found herself across the net from the 4.5 she'd knocked down. When they got on the court, one of the first things the other 4.5 said was she was so scared she wanted to cry. If she was hoping this would make BB ease up, it was a total fail. Fourth game of the match, BB tagged the woman's partner with a reflex volley while all four were in net. With tears in her eyes, the 4.5 promptly packed up her stuff and walked off the court.
Though we won that point, the other lines were more of a challenge. It had rained off and on all weekend so on Sunday, the last day, they told us we'd have to play a 10-game, no ad set and if it was rained out we'd have to do a coin toss. We may have fared better in the coin toss. They swept the last two points and took the automatic berth to State. But even though we didn't win, there's a good chance we'll still get a wildcard.
So, my question is, if you were me, would you play Big Baller at State?
Over the past year, she has worked out, went from a bear to a stallion body-wise and is now scary good. Although she was rated 4.0, she continued to play 4.5 and so far this season is undefeated in singles.
When BB signed up for combo, I'd planned to use her as one of my 4.5s but then I saw the roster and, like any captain worth their competitive salt, I thought BONUS! I didn't play 4.5 this season so I had no idea she was hitting this well when I paired her with a 4.5 the first combo match. During the match, on two separate occasions she cracked the ball so hard the opposing 4.5 fell down on her butt fighting off the shot. I'm not talking about an overhead at the net player, these were groundstrokes from behind the baseline that the woman couldn't volley.
After the match, the 4.0 came off the court and stood with her captain a few feet directly behind where I was sitting, animatedly recounting the many times BB had scared skid marks out of her and her partner. When she said BB was probably illegally sandbagging, I turned around and politely told them Big Baller was computer rated so there was no point protesting. They quickly changed the subject.
To my knowledge, nobody else complained after playing her and we cruised to the finals. Our opponent was the same team from the first match and BB again found herself across the net from the 4.5 she'd knocked down. When they got on the court, one of the first things the other 4.5 said was she was so scared she wanted to cry. If she was hoping this would make BB ease up, it was a total fail. Fourth game of the match, BB tagged the woman's partner with a reflex volley while all four were in net. With tears in her eyes, the 4.5 promptly packed up her stuff and walked off the court.
Though we won that point, the other lines were more of a challenge. It had rained off and on all weekend so on Sunday, the last day, they told us we'd have to play a 10-game, no ad set and if it was rained out we'd have to do a coin toss. We may have fared better in the coin toss. They swept the last two points and took the automatic berth to State. But even though we didn't win, there's a good chance we'll still get a wildcard.
So, my question is, if you were me, would you play Big Baller at State?
