Playing USTA tournament...for the first time

dwrecktor

New User
I have a question about playing in USTA tournaments. I don't have a rating, but I think I'm somewhere between a 3.5 and 4.0. If I were to play my first tournament at 4.0 and do horrible, can I play my next tourny at 3.5?

Also would I get a rating at the end of the year? And how many tourny would I have to play to get a rating. Sorry for the noob questions. Thanks.
 

Jonahan

Rookie
You'll have to self-rate first. You can self-rate at 3.5 and then play up in the 4.0 bracket if you want, but if you self-rate at 4.0, you'll be stuck there until/unless the computer bumps you down. On the other hand, if you rate at 3.5 and win more than a couple of matches by too much of a margin, you can get DQ'd and benchmarked up to 4.0 anyway.
 

J_R_B

Hall of Fame
You'll have to self-rate first. You can self-rate at 3.5 and then play up in the 4.0 bracket if you want, but if you self-rate at 4.0, you'll be stuck there until/unless the computer bumps you down. On the other hand, if you rate at 3.5 and win more than a couple of matches by too much of a margin, you can get DQ'd and benchmarked up to 4.0 anyway.

You can't get DQ'd from tournament matches.
 

goober

Legend
You'll have to self-rate first. You can self-rate at 3.5 and then play up in the 4.0 bracket if you want, but if you self-rate at 4.0, you'll be stuck there until/unless the computer bumps you down. On the other hand, if you rate at 3.5 and win more than a couple of matches by too much of a margin, you can get DQ'd and benchmarked up to 4.0 anyway.

IF you are playing tournaments only you do not have to self rate. You can play any level your first year until you get a year end rating. I played tournaments exclusively my first year and I could sign up for any level even a lower one than the first one I played. I know a player who started out at open then realized he was not that level player. He went to 4.5, still kept losing and then went to 3.5 and cleaned up. He then moved up to 4.0 tournaments where he had very competitive matches. He finished with a year end rating of 4.0.

You only have to self rate if you start playing league tennis.
 

LeeD

Bionic Poster
Not sure why anyone would self rate 4.0 if they don't really know where they belong. 4.0 is a high level of play, usually taking over 3 years of FULL TIME practice to achieve. That's a lot of tennis balls.
At 4.0, you CANNOT ever just show up at the courts and get a decent game. Nobody who plays pickup tennis is good enough for you. Nobody who plays less than 3 times a week for 4 years is good enough.
Everyone who plays with you already knows their rankings, if you don't know yours. Most of those guys have been thru lots of tournaments, have some problems getting good (4.5), but still OWN everyone on the public tennis courts.
Most 4.0's can hit pretty even with Div1 doubles guys, and certainly most 5.0 players. They'd get beat badly, but they have all the shots.
 
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