open 45 tournament-what level of players?

E

EKnee08

Professional
Hi all:

I am in my late 40s and before injuries (rotator cuff surgery) and knee issues (microfracture surgery on one knee and possibly same surgery on the other), and starting a family, I was a 4.5, close to 5.0. Considering everything, I still move well but not as well as 10 years ago.

I have been playing twice a week over the winter, once in a doubles league with weaker skilled players for social reasons and another day in a semi-private drill lesson where all drills are singles and we play out points as well.
Last night at the club where I play in the doubles league (on har-tru), I saw a sign posted for a club/USTA open tournament for ages 45 and up for both singles and doubles.

These days, I am probably at least a solid 4.0.

Can anyone tell me what level players would play in such an open singles tournament and with my dubious knees could I compete?
Any other general information about what would be involved in such a tournament would be appreciated in order to determine whether to sign up.
 
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I was going to do a quick search of the local rankings, but LI doesn't have any 45's ranked.

In the Chicago area, the top guys look to be 4.5's.
 
EKnee08 said:
Hi all:

I am in my late 40s and before injuries (rotator cuff surgery) and knee issues (microfracture surgery on one knee and possibly same surgery on the other), and starting a family, I was a 4.5, close to 5.0. Considering everything, I still move well but not as well as 10 years ago.

I have been playing twice a week over the winter, once in a doubles league with weaker skilled players for social reasons and another day in a semi-private drill lesson where all drills are singles and we play out points as well.
Last night at the club where I play in the doubles league (on har-tru), I saw a sign posted for a club/USTA open tournament for ages 45 and up for both singles and doubles.

These days, I am probably at least a solid 4.0.

Can anyone tell me what level players would play in such an open singles tournament and with my dubious knees could I compete?
Any other general information about what would be involved in such a tournament would be appreciated in order to determine whether to sign up.
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Compete? Sure, why not? Everyone else has dubious knees too, your conditioning will likely be at least average.

Win the tournament? Likely not, as there will be folks who were true 5.0s back in the day, whereas you were not.
 
The 45's National Clay Court Tournament where I live has everything from 3.0 to 5.5 players.

Last year, Rick Leach and his partner won the doubles.

Leach is a former grand slam champion. (9 slams in total)
 
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I just played 40's Nats Indoors in Park City (7000 ft elevation). There were no players below 4.5. I got to meet all kinds of good players. I would say the finalists (Eoin Collins and Andy Lake) were 6.0, early round futures level players. Ellis Ferreira, who won some grand slams, and his partner, who beat me in the cons draw, won the doubles.

But i'm guessing that the tourney in question will top out at about 5.0, unless there is prize money.
 
drakulie said:
The 45's National Clay Court Tournament where I live has everything from 3.0 to 5.5 players.

Last year, Rick Leach and his partner won the doubles.

Leach is a former grand slam champion. (9 slams in total)
Click to expand...

I am certainly no grand slam champion in any category (pun omitted as to not offend anybody)... and don't even play in singles leagues anymore because of the wear and tear on my knees.

I checked with a contact at the club andwhat you guys have stated is pretty accurate. No one under 4.50 got past the first round last year although a few lower level players competed.
 
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For the 50's men, 4.5. The gripe I hear from them is , "This is the only time I can get some good singles matches. I'm getting killed in adult leagues and there are no singles slots for seniors."
women 4.0. I know a few 3.5's who play it for fun and get whomped 0 and 1
 
EKnee08 said:
I am certainly no grand slam champion in any category (pun omitted as to not offend anybody)... and don't even play in singles leagues anymore because of the wear and tear on my knees.

I checked with a contact at the club andwhat you guys have stated is pretty accurate. No one under 4.50 got past the first round last year although a few lower level players competed.
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Your contact's info is way, way more relevant than reports of experience at Nationals.
 
^^^^ LOL, Granite. Yeah, these guys are on another level entirely. Pretty sick how good they still are. Truly insane.

Here is a vid of Lake from 2008:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9j9P6gFm9aA

I have a bunch of him, and more of the guys who played the 30's, and 45's clay court championships on my youtube account.
 
At the seniors tournaments I've played here locally, the best players (both of whom at different times were playing next to me) were Peter Doohan and Kelly Evernden. Had I won my match on one particular ocassion, I'd have had Evernden in the next round. I pity the fool.... :)

This was in the 40's.
 
Former Pros playing Seniors is pretty low class IMO. There should be a Masters division for former Pros.
 
LuckyR said:
Former Pros playing Seniors is pretty low class IMO. There should be a Masters division for former Pros.
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No, not really. I've never been abused by one of the top guys (and when I say top guys, I mean seeds...I was one round short one time of playing an ex-ATP'er...). In fact, they're all really nice.

The whole deal with age tournaments is that you're playing by age, not ability. That has been lost on the NTRP generation. Plus, they put money in the seniors tournaments which attracts the guys who were journeymen back in their days on tour. Hell, the way I look at it, just a chance to play a guy who beat Becker at Wimbledon is worth $35 to get in a tournament... And they look at it as an easy way to make $1500 for 3 - 4 days playing and drink a few. Everyone wins.
 
OP: If you're lucky - you'll draw someone like you. There aren't lots of easy matches where you are at.

You can run into lots of different folks in age groups - former pros, former college/juniors players- college level coaches, people who learned as adults but were great athletes in other sports, etc.

GC: How did you adapt to the altitude? I was going to play that one a couple years but didn't think I was in good enough physical shape to do so. Just curious,

K_I
 
I see you will run in many 4.0 and + and maybe a few 4.5. If you lived near Metro area, then it's more challenging. Let us know how you doing in your match.

Good luck.
 
Rabbit said:
No, not really. I've never been abused by one of the top guys (and when I say top guys, I mean seeds...I was one round short one time of playing an ex-ATP'er...). In fact, they're all really nice.

The whole deal with age tournaments is that you're playing by age, not ability. That has been lost on the NTRP generation. Plus, they put money in the seniors tournaments which attracts the guys who were journeymen back in their days on tour. Hell, the way I look at it, just a chance to play a guy who beat Becker at Wimbledon is worth $35 to get in a tournament... And they look at it as an easy way to make $1500 for 3 - 4 days playing and drink a few. Everyone wins.
Click to expand...

Interesting Post. Seems cool to me.
 
penang said:
I see you will run in many 4.0 and + and maybe a few 4.5. If you lived near Metro area, then it's more challenging. Let us know how you doing in your match.

Good luck.
Click to expand...

Thank you. From your experience then on LI there will be 4.0s, 4.0+, and 4.5s., I certainly wouldn't get blown out. However, if there are guys that pay the "national" referred to be other posters it will be a waste of my time. Like playing the 30 year old local pro I drill and play with.
 
Rabbit said:
No, not really. I've never been abused by one of the top guys (and when I say top guys, I mean seeds...I was one round short one time of playing an ex-ATP'er...). In fact, they're all really nice.

The whole deal with age tournaments is that you're playing by age, not ability. That has been lost on the NTRP generation. Plus, they put money in the seniors tournaments which attracts the guys who were journeymen back in their days on tour. Hell, the way I look at it, just a chance to play a guy who beat Becker at Wimbledon is worth $35 to get in a tournament... And they look at it as an easy way to make $1500 for 3 - 4 days playing and drink a few. Everyone wins.
Click to expand...


agree. Great post. Speaking to many of these guys is great. They are very friendly, and typically love telling war stories from the tour.

One of the very best ex-players I spoke to and had several beers with was Joanne Russel, who won the Wimbledon Doubles Titlle. It was awesome chatting with her about Wimbledon, grass, center court, etc.
 
senior 5.5 tournament players?

I'm curious to know how a 65 year old 5.5 player would do against a 25 year old 5.5 player. Also, I'm wondering how good are these 60, 65, 70, 75, and 80 year old players in these USTA tournaments. Are the top players in the older age groups truly 5.5 and 6.0 level players? Thanks for the information!
 
Technically, two players with the same NTRP should be a fairly even matchup, regardless of age. However, I think it would be pretty hard to find a 65 year old 5.5 player.

Also, I can easily imagine that an "older" player with a high NTRP may be playing JUST well enough to maintain his NTRP (meaning being competitive), whereas a younger player with a high NTRP could still be improving and will almost certainly be more mobile and have more stamina.
 
drakulie said:
agree. Great post. Speaking to many of these guys is great. They are very friendly, and typically love telling war stories from the tour.

One of the very best ex-players I spoke to and had several beers with was Joanne Russel, who won the Wimbledon Doubles Titlle. It was awesome chatting with her about Wimbledon, grass, center court, etc.
Click to expand...

Yep, I've spoken to Peter Doohan a couple of times. I didn't figure he wanted to be asked about Becker again, so I kept the topic centered on beer. He was pretty eloquent in that regard. :)
 
dthomas said:
I'm curious to know how a 65 year old 5.5 player would do against a 25 year old 5.5 player. Also, I'm wondering how good are these 60, 65, 70, 75, and 80 year old players in these USTA tournaments. Are the top players in the older age groups truly 5.5 and 6.0 level players? Thanks for the information!
Click to expand...

Actually that can be answered. One of the local tennis legends here is 62 and was at one point ranked #1 in the world in his age group. He represented the USA in the 60-and-over Von Cramm Cup. He recently entered a 35 age group tournament and lost 6-2, 6-3 to a 5.0 rated player who was the #1 seed.
 
Thanks for the information. I'm hoping I can start playing tournaments when I get closer to retirement, and my kids are finished with high school. I'm 51 years old, and I play against two guys who are around 5.0 players who are younger than me by 15-20 years. The set scores are around 6-4 or 7-5 with them beating me. I stay in extremely good shape by running the high school track twice a week. I'm just curious to know how good these players are in the 60's, so thanks again for the information. I plan to play the smaller tournaments first to see how I do before I try to play the bigger tournaments.
 
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