US Open Wildcards for NCAA winners?

Should the winner of the NCAA's be given a WC no matter if they are International?

  • Yes, the winner should get it; they are a college student doesn't matter

    Votes: 10 52.6%

  • No, should be reserved for the best collegiate American Player

    Votes: 8 42.1%

  • I don't care

    Votes: 1 5.3%
  • Total voters
    19
  • Poll closed .
Nacho

Nacho

Hall of Fame
I have seen a bunch of Twitter chatter about this topic, whats the prevailing opinion from the peanut gallery on here?

As I have always understood the NCAA winner wild card, summing it up here, it was initially created by the USTA to give the winner of the NCAA's (who at the time was almost always an American) a wild card entry into the US Open. Over time it was defined as a WC for the American winner of the NCAA's. As it was a USTA based winner it was not meant to honor a player with entry into the US open who might have come up in a competing system (LTA, French federation, ITF, etc..).

With International players winning the NCAA individual tournament, and more commonly competing in D-1 tennis in higher numbers then American players (nearly 4-1 in D-1), is it time to just recognize the winner no matter where they are from?

Pro: Its an International Sport, and good for college tennis to have students represent college tennis every year, giving college tennis more recognition to the average tennis fan
Con: Designed to help inspire American players, and give American players the chance to compete. Its a USTA award, so should help someone affiliated with the USTA. Defies the purpose to give to international non USTA player

Thoughts?
 
Personally, I think it should be given to the winner regardless of nationality! It is always a great plus for college tennis to see a current or recent player competing on the big stages like the Grand Slams. I understand why the USTA wants to use that wildcard to promote american tennis, but why waste that wildcard! (I know they dont just "waste" that wildcard, but give it to a different american player)

In my opinion I think at the end of they day, regardless of nationality, having the winner of the NCAA title get that direct entry into the main draw ultimately helps support and boost the credibility and support of college tennis.
 
I think it would be a waste. there are too many good young americans the wildcard should go to. Mikaela Gordon should get one for sure
 
Nostradamus said:
I think it would be a waste. there are too many good young americans the wildcard should go to. Mikaela Gordon should get one for sure
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I agree on the point that there are a lot of really good young americans, but isn't that kinda what the National Junior tourney in Kalamazoo for? Or are you speaking directly about college?
Wouldn't it be great though if Geller wins the title to get that entry?
 
tennisfan17 said:
I agree on the point that there are a lot of really good young americans, but isn't that kinda what the National Junior tourney in Kalamazoo for? Or are you speaking directly about college?
Wouldn't it be great though if Geller wins the title to get that entry?
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Sameer Kumar should get one for sure. I would also give one to OSU #1 player
 
Nostradamus said:
Sameer Kumar should get one for sure. I would also give one to OSU #1 player
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I would give it to JJ on the condition that he shaves the mullet lol

Do you think that giving it to some one regardless of nationality wouldn't be beneficial to the promotion of college tennis?
 
USTA can do whatever they want. It is their wildcard.

To my knowledge, there isn't another sport which the individual champion (or equivalent) is awarded anything at the pro level. College football Heisman winner isn't given a spot in the NFL, etc. People compare tennis to golf due to their county club nature, and the NCAA golf champion isn't awarded an exemption (proper term for wild card in golf) into the US Open or Masters or any pro golf event for that matter.

IMO, the USTA should award a wildcard when they deem fit. There should not be a hard rule of no wildcard for non-Americans and vice versa. Also, Kalamazoo WC should still stay. Golf has the same rule where US junior amateur champion gets exemption into the US Open.
 
tennisfan17 said:
I would give it to JJ on the condition that he shaves the mullet lol

Do you think that giving it to some one regardless of nationality wouldn't be beneficial to the promotion of college tennis?
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Yes it would. but USTA is only interested in promoting American talent, not foreign talent. it is their job. I would for sure give one to Tommy Paul, if he can stay healthy over summer
 
Nostradamus said:
Yes it would. but USTA is only interested in promoting American talent, not foreign talent. it is their job. I would for sure give one to Tommy Paul, if he can stay healthy over summer
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The maybe that wildcard should be delivered by the ITA or even directly from the us open. Again, I want american tennis to be promoted heavily as well! but i do think there is a need to some how handout a wild card to the title winner. So many of these guys who the title deserve a chance to play on a big stage and that wildcard might be their only chance to do so. Ah, but at the end of the day, I do understand why it is held only for americans though.

And tommy paul would be an excellent wildcard selection. Top 100 player by the end of the year for sure. imagine if he had actually attended UGA.
 
tennisfan17 said:
The maybe that wildcard should be delivered by the ITA or even directly from the us open. Again, I want american tennis to be promoted heavily as well! but i do think there is a need to some how handout a wild card to the title winner. So many of these guys who the title deserve a chance to play on a big stage and that wildcard might be their only chance to do so. Ah, but at the end of the day, I do understand why it is held only for americans though.

And tommy paul would be an excellent wildcard selection. Top 100 player by the end of the year for sure. imagine if he had actually attended UGA.
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I think tommy paul would have been great at Stanford. Anyway, Jubb can get a wildcard to Qualifying at the US open. If he is so good, then he would come thru the qualies which would be even better for him.
 
The good news is Paul Jubb was given a WC into a UK Challenger by the LTA (London Tennis Assoc) which runs UK tourneys. Since recent US college grads ranked in the 150-400s are still losing up to $60K-$100k a year (guys like Eubanks, Thai, Hiltzik, etc), if the NCAA winner is not American, it is better to put that WC back in the kitty to give to other young Americans struggling on the tour. Give the Open WC to the top US seed at the US Qualifiers, and then give the open Qualifying spot to a current/former US collegian with the best recent results. There just arent enough WCs at all levels and too many of the Future level go to juniors vs collegians. International players can still receive WCs into US Futures and Challengers hosted by US universities, and I think Wake international players in the past have gotten WCs into the Quals of Winston 250. However, if the USTA is the main sponsor for the tourney, the USTA is going to give WCs to US players. The ITF just reversed position and will return ATP points to $15Ks and all rounds of $25K but that's not until August, and the loss of half a year has probably hurt collegians the most because they dont play year round. Every WC is gold for now until the ITF reversal opens back up opportunities. When US college graduates can break even their 2nd year of playing pro tennis-if that ever happens, maybe USTA can be more generous and give some WCs to internationals.
 
jcgatennismom said:
The good news is Paul Jubb was given a WC into a UK Challenger by the LTA (London Tennis Assoc) which runs UK tourneys. Since recent US college grads ranked in the 150-400s are still losing up to $60K-$100k a year (guys like Eubanks, Thai, Hiltzik, etc), if the NCAA winner is not American, it is better to put that WC back in the kitty to give to other young Americans struggling on the tour. Give the Open WC to the top US seed at the US Qualifiers, and then give the open Qualifying spot to a current/former US collegian with the best recent results. There just arent enough WCs at all levels and too many of the Future level go to juniors vs collegians. International players can still receive WCs into US Futures and Challengers hosted by US universities, and I think Wake international players in the past have gotten WCs into the Quals of Winston 250. However, if the USTA is the main sponsor for the tourney, the USTA is going to give WCs to US players. The ITF just reversed position and will return ATP points to $15Ks and all rounds of $25K but that's not until August, and the loss of half a year has probably hurt collegians the most because they dont play year round. Every WC is gold for now until the ITF reversal opens back up opportunities. When US college graduates can break even their 2nd year of playing pro tennis-if that ever happens, maybe USTA can be more generous and give some WCs to internationals.
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Just a slight correction 'LTA' stands for 'Lawn Tennis Association', not London Tennis Assoc. Given that the US Open loses 2 of it's wildcards already due to the reciprocal agreements with the French and Australian Opens I don't think having a hard and fast rule regarding wildcards is a good one. If 2 WC's are already lost and 2 more are guarenteed to the Junior Nat'l champ and American NCAA champ I think then some good, maybe more deserving players, are being short changed. Tommy Paul got the US's wildcard into the French due to his results in a series of Challenger events--I think that kind of merit based WC is good. I'm all for young US players getting more exposure and think Nat'l junior and NCAA champs should certainly get strong consideration for WC's into the US Open I'm just not sure they should get gauranteed WC's as the competition and level of play does vary some year to year. Maybe they should get WC's into a Masters or 500 event instead--save the remaing US Open WC's for players based on a more merit based system rather than the result of a single tournament. But I do believe that if a WC into a US tournament is given it should go to a US college player rather than an international player. If an international player wins the NCAAs I think their own tennis federation should take care of them, not the USTA. As I've said many times I do believe international players have made college tennis better I'm just not so much in favor of them getting WC's.
 
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I think NCAA champs deserve the wildcard more than the Kalamazoo champs. As I detailed I'm a post here before, the NCAA champ has been far more competitive in recent years with their WC than has the Kalamazoo champions. Age is a big factor of course, since it's hard for a 17-18 year old to be competitive in a best of 5 match in a grand slam (often times their first tour level match).

Jubb will likely be treated well by LTA. But it's unfortunate for players from small tennis countries like Blaz Rola or Petros Chrysochos, both of whom received far more support from their college teams than their countries could ever give them.
 
Clemson_tennis said:
I think NCAA champs deserve the wildcard more than the Kalamazoo champs. As I detailed I'm a post here before, the NCAA champ has been far more competitive in recent years with their WC than has the Kalamazoo champions. Age is a big factor of course, since it's hard for a 17-18 year old to be competitive in a best of 5 match in a grand slam (often times their first tour level match).
.
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It would make more sense to give the Kzoo champ a WC to US Open Qualifying. The Kzoo winner gets US open MD WC, US open juniors MD WC plus two challenger MD WCs. Even the Kzoo finalist gets WC to US open Qualis, US Open Jr MD, 1 MD Challenger, and 1 25K MD. The NCAA finalist only gets WCs to two $25Ks. The NCAA winner gets Quali or MD to US Open plus 2 Challenger WCs. Hard to believe the junior finalist gets Open Quali and Challenger WC while NCAA finalist-even if US player-gets neither of those. USTA should possibly give highest US finisher WC to US Open Quali or at least to MD of Challenger.

The USTA gives far more WCs to juniors-especially at Future levels- when collegians and post grads have a higher win %. USTA PD kids do win some matches on wild cards but their win ratio isnt very good. One USTA PD kid played 15 Futures before winning a MD match. It took him 2 years to win a MD match-losing in 10 Qualis, losing in 1st rd for 3 Futures where he got a WC into MD, and losing in MD when he qualified in his 14th Future. I can think of several collegians who werent even ITA top 64 who at least qualified for MD within 3 Futures. Here's the WC list: https://s3.amazonaws.com/ustaassets...tive_pathway_merit_based_wild_cards_final.pdf Note the list does not include WCs given out at college hosted pro events-those are at discretion of TD and/or college coach.
 
Why don’t they put them into qualifying as a seed and give them a first round bye for winning regardless of nationality. A main draw wildcard is a 35k proposition. Guys like Jubb who is a junior would be hard pressed to take it or turn it down. 35k would be a great little jump start to a pro career but it would also take a year of ‘free’ development and training from him at the college level. Put them in quailes and let them get high level matches. Additionally the LTA put Jubb into a challenger with a WC. It starts next week. Specific to Jubb I think a lot of his motivation to come back is not only to finish school but also to continue to grow. The announcers were talking about his size during the championship match but he’s probably grown 3-4” and gained at least 20 pounds in the 3 years I’ve known him. He’s still a baby physically and just needs a little more time to grow imo.
 
USTA can give it to whomever they want since it is their tournament!
However, I bet they have tremendous pressure from Internationals and Globalist to change this.
 
At the very least.... I feel like it if they dont give it to the NCAA winner, then that wildcard should either go to the highest ranked American player at the end of the season, or heck even a former collegian that is on tour.

Also, can someone post a link where it says that that particular wild card is specifically to support American tennis? I was always under the impression that it was to support the NCAA college tennis scene, which would benefit from any player receiving it regardless of nationality.
 
tennisfan17 said:
At the very least.... I feel like it if they dont give it to the NCAA winner, then that wildcard should either go to the highest ranked American player at the end of the season, or heck even a former collegian that is on tour.

Also, can someone post a link where it says that that particular wild card is specifically to support American tennis? I was always under the impression that it was to support the NCAA college tennis scene, which would benefit from any player receiving it regardless of nationality.
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The wild card is given out by the USTA. The USTA has a stated mission to promote U.S. tennis. They do not have a stated mission to promote college tennis in general; the ITA does, and the USTA cooperates with them by running some elite training programs in summer, for example, but for American players.
 
ClarkC said:
The wild card is given out by the USTA. The USTA has a stated mission to promote U.S. tennis. They do not have a stated mission to promote college tennis in general; the ITA does, and the USTA cooperates with them by running some elite training programs in summer, for example, but for American players.
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Ah my apologies. I seemed to have mixed the mission of the ITA and USTA up. Thanks for the clarification
 
I see a lot of you guys getting it wrong. There is no rule or law that implies that the NCAA winner gets a WC for the US Open main draw. If there was Borna and petros would have had played it for sure. The USTA job is to help the kids from the US, not college players. The ITA´S job is to help college players. If internationals want WC to big tournaments then their respective federations should help them. It is not a matter of racism or giving less opportunities, it is just logic, the USTA is the US federation and they are the ones who give out the WC so why would you give it to Jubb, someone from England when he is not american and he will never play davis cup or compete for the US?
 
optimaltennis said:
USTA can do whatever they want. It is their wildcard.

To my knowledge, there isn't another sport which the individual champion (or equivalent) is awarded anything at the pro level. College football Heisman winner isn't given a spot in the NFL, etc. People compare tennis to golf due to their county club nature, and the NCAA golf champion isn't awarded an exemption (proper term for wild card in golf) into the US Open or Masters or any pro golf event for that matter.

IMO, the USTA should award a wildcard when they deem fit. There should not be a hard rule of no wildcard for non-Americans and vice versa. Also, Kalamazoo WC should still stay. Golf has the same rule where US junior amateur champion gets exemption into the US Open.
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we all know the USTA can do whatever they want. we just offering our opinion. I would at the very least give the winner a Wild Card into qualifying. Did the winner last year get one? any wildcard spot is like gold because they need the money.
 
optimaltennis said:
USTA can do whatever they want. It is their wildcard.

To my knowledge, there isn't another sport which the individual champion (or equivalent) is awarded anything at the pro level. College football Heisman winner isn't given a spot in the NFL, etc. People compare tennis to golf due to their county club nature, and the NCAA golf champion isn't awarded an exemption (proper term for wild card in golf) into the US Open or Masters or any pro golf event for that matter.

IMO, the USTA should award a wildcard when they deem fit. There should not be a hard rule of no wildcard for non-Americans and vice versa. Also, Kalamazoo WC should still stay. Golf has the same rule where US junior amateur champion gets exemption into the US Open.
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Not the NCAA champion, but the US Amateur Champion in golf gets an invite to all pro golf majors except the PGA - so British Open, US Open, Masters. And, the runner-up gets an invite to the US Open and Masters. That's a pretty big award at the pro level.

Maybe tennis should have a US Amateur Championships
 
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bluetrain4 said:
Not the NCAA champion, but the US Amateur Champion in golf gets an invite to all pro golf majors except the PGA - so British Open, US Open, Masters. And, the runner-up gets an invite to the US Open and Masters. That's a pretty big award at the pro level.

Maybe tennis should have a US Amateur Championships
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The USTA has USTA American Closed Wild Card Tournament series. I think its open to all US citizens play. Can internationals play?
 
andfor said:
The USTA has USTA American Closed Wild Card Tournament series. I think its open to all US citizens play. Can internationals play?
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Pretty sure USTA discontinued this as what ended up happening was top 300 pros would use this as a avenue to win a WC to qualies (that was the prize to the winner)
 
bluetrain4 said:
Not the NCAA champion, but the US Amateur Champion in golf gets an invite to all pro golf majors except the PGA - so British Open, US Open, Masters. And, the runner-up gets an invite to the US Open and Masters. That's a pretty big award at the pro level.

Maybe tennis should have a US Amateur Championships
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Sounds like pre-open era
 
optimaltennis said:
Pretty sure USTA discontinued this as what ended up happening was top 300 pros would use this as a avenue to win a WC to qualies (that was the prize to the winner)
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I think your correct. Looking in TennisLink its nowhere to be found. Top 300 pros playing is a lame excuse for discontinuing it IMO.
 
andfor said:
I think your correct. Looking in TennisLink its nowhere to be found. Top 300 pros playing is a lame excuse for discontinuing it IMO.
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They could simply exclude players ranked above some cut-off and tell them this is an amateur event; no need to cancel the whole event.
 
@optimaltennis @ClarkC @andfor The tournament you are thinking of was called the US Open National Playoffs. Each section held a tourney in early summer with each sectional winner going to a national tourney to determine who earned the Quali WC. The last year it was played was 2016, and the finals were held in New Haven Conn. Besides pros playing the tourney, another issue was internationals playing it. In our section in 2016, a player from Bahamas won it. It's too bad it was cancelled as it was a great tourney for crossplay between juniors, collegians, young pros, and the best rec adults. Mixed dubs and dubs winners got MD WCs. Reaching the quarters of a sectional also gave players enough national ranking points to get in Qualis of a $25K Future. The USTA probably thought it was too much effort to host 17 tourneys plus a final when they could just give the Quali WC to the first out US young pro. However, those tourneys were a great way to grow tennis as they were Opens, and anyone could play, their friends watch, and also for them to see the different levels of tennis. It could have survived with a few tweaks-deciding the level of player who could enter and limiting to US players. USTA wants to grow tennis while eliminating opportunities-doesnt work.

Here is the statement that was released by USTA in late April 2017: (it had been held for 7 years)
'As originally conceived, the Playoffs were introduced as means for all tennis players, from weekend warriors to former college players and all others, to have a chance to qualify for the US Open. However, we have seen from recent competitions that the Playoffs are being utilized by pro tennis players as a pathway to the US Open. This was not how the Playoffs were originally designed. Therefore, the Playoffs are being discontinued, and the resources allocated for the USONP will be redirected to youth and grassroots tennis',

In case you are curious, I copied below info from our sectional tourney in 2016

"This tournament is part of the US Open National Playoffs - a series of tournaments that gives any player 14 years of age or older who meets the eligibility requirements the opportunity to qualify for the 2016 US Open. Sectional Qualifying Tournaments will be held across 15 USTA Sections to include men's singles, women's singles, men's doubles, women's doubles, and mixed doubles. Tournaments will take place between April 1 and July 4. With a maximum of a 256 singles draw and a 128 doubles team draw, players/teams will compete in a single elimination draw.... The winner or top available finisher of each Sectional Qualifying Tournament in each division (men's singles, women's singles, men's doubles, women's doubles, mixed doubles) will advance to the US Open National Playoffs Championships in their respective division taking place in New Haven, CT at Yale University during the Connecticut Open, an Emirates Airline US Open Series event (August 19-22 for singles, August 21-24 for men's & women's doubles, August 24-27 for mixed doubles). The men's and women's singles champions will receive a wild card into the 2016 US Open Qualifying Tournament and the men's, women's and mixed doubles champions will receive a wild card into the main draw of the 2016 US Open."
 
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