Lost my 3.0 "final" today... to a 4.0?

[Caswell]

Played in the 3.0 flight of a tournament today, which was done in round robin format because there were only two other entries. Won my first match, lost the second 6-2, 6-2.

Checked Tennislink tonight, and the guy that beat me has a computer NTRP of 4.0. He seemed to know everyone at the club, so I'm guessing he was just "filling in", so that we got two matches each in the flight.

I'm not mad at all, I enjoyed being pushed hard. About halfway through the first set, I remember thinking "I can beat this guy, but I'm gonna have to play the absolute best I can". Amazing touch on his volleys, made me fight to keep him on the baseline. I just hope he actually played at his level.

 

[zhan]

well u should of seen... my 2.0-2.5 level friends were playing my friend (3.5) and his partner (3.0-3.5) in doubles
got crushed six-love...
getting pummeled by being outclassed suck
but at least u enjoyed it

 

[Trinity TC]

Hey, that's pretty good! Sounds like a good boost for the confidence.

 

[goober]

Played in the 3.0 flight of a tournament today, which was done in round robin format because there were only two other entries. Won my first match, lost the second 6-2, 6-2.

Checked Tennislink tonight, and the guy that beat me has a computer NTRP of 4.0. He seemed to know everyone at the club, so I'm guessing he was just "filling in", so that we got two matches each in the flight.

I'm not mad at all, I enjoyed being pushed hard. About halfway through the first set, I remember thinking "I can beat this guy, but I'm gonna have to play the absolute best I can". Amazing touch on his volleys, made me fight to keep him on the baseline. I just hope he actually played at his level.

Well it is nice you have a good attitude. I guess this wasn't a USTA tourney since the 4.0 guy was allowed to play down. At the 3.0 level playing as many 3.5-4.0 guys as you can will help you a lot.

 

[Caswell]

Actually, it was a USTA tournament. The results are on Tennislink, and I've double and triple checked - the guy has a computer 4.0 rating.

I'm curious to see how things will pan out with the sectional rankings. There are only about 60 guys in the NTRP 3.0 standings, and with 102 points he'd be up in the top half. Isn't it going to look kind of odd when a 4.0 player has a 3.0 sectional ranking?

I just hope the match doesn't get forfeited. I don't care about sectional rankings, but pulling a few games off a 4.0 might help me get bumped up to 3.5 at the end of the year.

 

[goober]

hmm that's interesting. Usually if you have a rating you can't register for levels below your current level. I suppose the TD could have manually added him. As for getting bumped to 3.5. For tournaments it is not really a big deal. You can always play up levels regardless whether you are officially that level or not. If you do well you will get bumped.

 

[Caswell]

Thanks for the compliment on the attitude as well. That's something I've been trying to change since I came back to the game.

I honestly think I'm ready for 3.5's, but my family and friends who remember my junior days want me to stay in 3.0's and learn how to force my game onto others and how to win when the expectations / pressure is on me. They think playing up into the 3.5's would take the pressure off.

The strokes are coming back fast, especially now that I'm getting my feet moving again, but the mental side can always use more work.

EDIT: The thing with the ratings has more to do with league play. The 3.5 and 4.0 teams at our club are full, so the only way to get a spot on them is to have the USTA bump you up. There's good competition with other clubs in those flights, but at 3.0 the only other team in our flight was the 2.5's / low 3.0's from our club.

 

[oldguysrule]

...EDIT: The thing with the ratings has more to do with league play. The 3.5 and 4.0 teams at our club are full, so the only way to get a spot on them is to have the USTA bump you up. There's good competition with other clubs in those flights, but at 3.0 the only other team in our flight was the 2.5's / low 3.0's from our club.

Did you know that you don't have to wait for a spot to open on a team? You can start your own team. I am sure there are other players that want to play. Make a few phone calls and have fun.

 

[Caswell]

We've talked about that... there are plenty of guys on our 3.0 team that want to play in the 3.5's. We were hoping to win regionals and do well at sectionals to get bumped up, but we went 0-3 in those awful third set tiebreaks and another team is going to sectionals instead.

I can think of maybe eight of us who're ready to do it, maybe I should take the intiative and get the ball rolling. Thanks!