USTA League Winning Team Courts Won Scenarios

SGM1980

Rookie
It doesn't surprise me that you see more 5-0 results than you might expect mathematically. If the the match is lost in the first three courts to finish, the other two courts don't have as much incentive to win. I've seen a number of cases where the last two courts have phoned it it just to be done and get home at a reasonable hour. People worried about their ratings and results may not, but a lot of people will stop trying as hard when the match has already been lost.

3-2 wins or losses are the most hard-fought I think.
 

halepeno

New User
Agree with the comment on the blog that the reason 5-0 is so much higher is due to each team setting the lineups "straight up" (in order of relative strength). Essentially, the weaker team is overmatched on every court when the players get matched up that way.
 

brettatk

Semi-Pro
I'm betting that a fair number of 3-2 wins were because of their first 3 lines winning and then the last two lines losing on purpose in order to preserve their rating. We've played a team in the playoffs several times that is known for this. Once the match is decided we opt not to finish/start the other lines. Why play when you know the other team is playing to lose? They always get upset. Too bad for them.
 

S&V-not_dead_yet

Talk Tennis Guru
I'm betting that a fair number of 3-2 wins were because of their first 3 lines winning and then the last two lines losing on purpose in order to preserve their rating. We've played a team in the playoffs several times that is known for this. Once the match is decided we opt not to finish/start the other lines. Why play when you know the other team is playing to lose? They always get upset. Too bad for them.

Not having any background on your particular situation, I know I would be upset if I travelled all the way to play a match that was then forfeited even though the opponents were available.
 
Yeah, the guys forfeiting matches are in the wrong there... Totally jerk move. I would be incredibly annoyed if I showed up for a match and my opponents decided not to play it. Waste of an afternoon...
 

brettatk

Semi-Pro
Seriously? So you would be alright playing a match against an opponent when you know they are going to throw it and lose on purpose? Wow.
 
No, that would be annoying. Throwing matches is a jerk move. I would also be annoyed if my opponents refused to play and forfeited because of concern about ratings. Both are, in my opinion, bad sportsmanship.
 

S&V-not_dead_yet

Talk Tennis Guru
I'm betting that a fair number of 3-2 wins were because of their first 3 lines winning and then the last two lines losing on purpose in order to preserve their rating. We've played a team in the playoffs several times that is known for this. Once the match is decided we opt not to finish/start the other lines. Why play when you know the other team is playing to lose? They always get upset. Too bad for them.

Also, I don't get the logic of the team whose members are playing to lose. So the first 3 lines won and the other 2 teams forfeit? Is that because they are afraid of winning and getting bumped up? What if they weren't ahead 3-0 but were down 1-2? Wouldn't they then have to go out and play for a win which would still endanger them of getting bumped up? I must be missing something.

I compete as hard as I can regardless of the team score. It's one thing if I'm injured or sick or some outlier circumstance like that but otherwise, I'm there to compete. There is a fringe benefit in that I think it helps me focus on my game and try to not let the team score influence me [like when it's tied and my match is the decider].
 
D

Deleted member 23235

Guest
Also, I don't get the logic of the team whose members are playing to lose. So the first 3 lines won and the other 2 teams forfeit? Is that because they are afraid of winning and getting bumped up? What if they weren't ahead 3-0 but were down 1-2? Wouldn't they then have to go out and play for a win which would still endanger them of getting bumped up? I must be missing something.

I compete as hard as I can regardless of the team score. It's one thing if I'm injured or sick or some outlier circumstance like that but otherwise, I'm there to compete. There is a fringe benefit in that I think it helps me focus on my game and try to not let the team score influence me [like when it's tied and my match is the decider].
my guess is that they are conserving their energy, especially if the guys are over 40,...

but I'm with you, I'd at least play the match but, to conserve energy, maybe not exert myself as much (eg won't run down lobs, or maybe won't s&v, or serve hard)
 

S&V-not_dead_yet

Talk Tennis Guru
my guess is that they are conserving their energy, especially if the guys are over 40,...

but I'm with you, I'd at least play the match but, to conserve energy, maybe not exert myself as much (eg won't run down lobs, or maybe won't s&v, or serve hard)

IMO, S&V actually takes less energy because points are shorter. The initial outlay is more because you have to haul your butt to the net as opposed to just staying on the BL but once you get there, the points usually end quickly.
 

brettatk

Semi-Pro
This team I'm talking about is usually a pretty strong team. Throughout the season and the playoffs they usually play their stronger lines at 3 and 4 doubles (40+) or lines 2 and 3 (18+). If they win the first three matches they will purposely lose the last two so that their ratings will not go up and will possibly lower. Don't get me wrong, with any other team we play all matches. It's only against this team we refuse to do so. This team also had 80% of it's people bumped to 4.5 at YE 2014. They played at 4.5 for a season and only won 2 matches, probably by forfeit. I know a guy that played on that team and he told me that the captain told them they were not to win a match. The sole purpose was so they could get back down to 4.0. We did not forfeit the matches to preserve our players ratings, that would be a dick move. So the only dick move here is from the other team. I think anyone in our situation would do the exact same thing.

I will say that it's not uncommon that when in the playoffs the teams choose not to play the final match(es) once it's been decided. Often it's the people that have traveled an hour to get there that don't want to play. They want to go ahead and get home instead of playing for an hour or two then have to drive another hour home. It sucks sometimes but I can understand. I've looked and as far as I know there isn't any kind of rule on this. Maybe it stems from ALTA (league in metro Atlanta) that's been around longer and has tons more players. In ALTA you stop playing in the playoffs once you win 3 lines out of 5. Mostly so you don't risk injury for a match that doesn't matter. So it's possible this way of thinking has carried over to USTA in our area.
 
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