Sunday, August 27, 2017

2017 USTA League Pacific Northwest 40+ Sectionals results - Seattle area teams lead the way again

I did a preview of the 40 & over Sectionals for the Pacific Northwest held in Portland this weekend, here is how things turned out.

NTRP LevelWinnerRunner-upComments

4.5+ MNO-MACNO-Portland TCWon 4-1
4.5+ WNO-Sunset ACNWW-Bellevue ClubWon 4-1
4.0 MNWW-Harbor SquareNWW-Nordstrom TCWon 3-2
4.0 WEW or SOSO or EWNo score for final
3.5 MNWW-Mercer IslandNWW-EdgebrookWon 3-2
3.5 WNWW-SandpointNO-Sunset ACWon 3-2
3.0 MNWW-Bellevue Tennis AcademyNWW-Mercer IslandWon 4-1
3.0 WNWW-Bellevue ClubNWW-Central ParkWon 3-2
2.5 MNWW-Eastside TCNWW-Forest CrestWon flight going away, others 1-2
2.5 WNWW-Bellevue ClubNWW-Bellevue Tennis AcademyWon 2-1

Key:
EW - Eastern Washington
NWW - Northwest Washington, i.e. Seattle
NO - Northern Oregon, i.e. Portland
SO - Southern Oregon

With the 4.0 women still to be decided or recorded, the totals by district are:

  • Seattle - 7
  • Portland - 2
  • Eastern Washington or Southern Oregon - 1
Couple that with Seattle also having 7 runners up, and it appears Seattle was the clear leader at 40+ as they were for 18+.

Congratulations to all the winners, good luck at Nationals!

Wednesday, August 23, 2017

2017 Pacific Northwest 40 & over Sectionals Preview - August 25-27 in Portland

The Pacific Northwest section is holding their sectionals for the 40 & over division for the 2017 USTA League year in Portland Oregon this weekend.  There are 76 teams scheduled to play, men and women across five NTRP levels, the format being two flights of four teams each, the flight winners playing a final on Sunday, except for the 2.5 men which is one flight with the round robin winner taking the Sectional title.  And of course, those that win punch their ticket to Nationals.

The flights are made up of four teams, each from a different district for the most part, typically Eastern Washington, Northern Oregon, Northwest Washington, and Southwest Washington, but there are a few teams from Alaska and Southern Oregon thrown in as well and a few flights with two teams from a district where there were gaps and an extra wildcard was granted.

I can do flight previews for any of the 19 flights being played, and a flight preview includes the full roster average for each team, the top-8 average for each team, and a summary of what the average rating played by court is so you can see if teams tend to stack or not and if they are stronger in singles or doubles.  And captains that have gotten these previews have done very well in playoffs, many advancing on including a handful that won Sectionals last weekend and are headed to Nationals.

As a free preview of one flight, here are the overall averages for Flight B of the 4.0 women.

Team NameAverage Rating3.54.0
HRSC-Dey3.7503.75
PTC-Zielinski/Vawter3.753.613.76
TCSP-Crites3.703.7
LRC Harris3.6403.64
This is one of the more competitive flights with the average rating for each roster spanning just 0.11.  But these are full roster averages and in one case include at least one 3.5 player on the roster, albeit a pretty good one(s), and it is who actually plays in a match that determines who wins, not the average rating of the roster.  But from this, we can see that HRSC and PTC are probably the favorites in this flight.

If you are interested in another flight or want a full report showing the top-8 averages and average played by court, contact me.

Monday, August 21, 2017

Report customers do very well at 2017 USTA League Sectionals - Nationals here we come!

Everyone that reads my blog knows I do reports for USTA League players interested in having an accurate estimate of where their rating is and the details behind how it got there.  Many of you also know I do team reports and flight reports to help captains get to know their teams better and scout opponents.

It is this time of year when it is especially rewarding to see the result of helping teams scout for playoffs and this weekend was an excellent example.

A number of teams playing at Sectionals this weekend, in fact teams across several different levels in five different sections, got team and/or flight reports and it was exciting to follow their results and see that the majority came through and won Sectionals and are headed to Nationals!  They join several other report customers that had qualified for Nationals in the past few weeks.

I can't claim that the reports are the sole reason these teams advanced, clearly the players have to go play and execute on court, but with the reports in hand and analysis performed, the captains could put their players in the best position to win and/or manage playing time to keep players fresh for the meaningful matches.  And with the results from this weekend, clearly they help.

Here is a quote from one Nationals bound captain that wrapped up their spot on Sunday.
Thanks for the reporting. It gave me the confidence to rest the players we needed for the Finals match this morning!

And from another Nationals bound captain in a different section also making it through a semi and final on Sunday.
Thank you for your advice my friend.

And that is an important note.  While there are a lot of numbers in my reports, every report is personalized with observations, advice, and recommendations as well.  It is these comments and analysis that can be the difference between a bunch of confusing numbers and actionable insight to help a team win and advance.

This was summed up in a comment from a Nationals winning captain last year.
Honestly, we could not have done this without you. Of course our players executed, but every match-up and tendency you suggested worked out. It was absolutely unbelievable. You don't know how many times we have been on the wrong side of the educated guesses without your help and we always seemed to come of the wrong side. We won 4 matches 3-2 so without your help I am sure we would not have won it.

There are more playoffs and Sectionals coming up the next few weeks, so if you are preparing to play, there is still time to do some scouting.  Contact me if interested.

Sunday, August 20, 2017

2017 USTA League Sectionals played this weekend August 18-20

Here are some sectionals that were played this weekend:
  • Eastern 18 & over and 40 & over select levels
  • Florida 18 & over (x.5 levels)
  • Intermountain 18 & over
  • Middle States 18 & over
  • Midwest 18 & over
  • New England 18 & over
  • Northern 18 & over and 40 & over
  • Southern Cal 40 & over

There were also some local playoffs for 40+ in Texas, and Georgia is having some early start league flight playoffs for 2018 already!

Thursday, August 17, 2017

What specific districts/states/areas do the best at Nationals? Is Seattle the most dominant? San Francisco close too with Dallas showing well. Interesting Tennis League Stats

I just wrote about what sections have done the best at Nationals the past four years, using that as a baseline for us to monitor if things change in the next few years with the location change for many Nationals from California/Arizona to Alabama/Florida.

Seeing which sections did well, Southern, Pacific Northwest, Northern California, Texas, and Southern California in particular, leads one to wonder if there are particular districts/states/areas from those sections that are contributing to the domination.

Looking at those sections in order, Southern is made up of nine states, here is how they've done at Nationals the past four years.  Reminder, this is for 18+ and 40+ divisions.

StateSemi-finalistsChampions
North Carolina94
Louisiana82
Mississippi52
Alabama50
Tennessee42
South Carolina32
Kentucky21
Arkansas11
Georgia10

The big surprise, to me at least, is that Georgia brings up the rear here with just one semi-final appearance.  While a lot of tennis is played in Georgia, perhaps more emphasis really is put on ALTA than USTA.  But all states are represented and North Carolina and Louisiana have done especially well.

Next, the Pacific Northwest technically has eight districts, but there are five that are active, but just three have made a mark on semis at Nationals the last four years.

DistrictSemi-finalistsChampions
Northwest Washington288
Northern Oregon50
Eastern Washington10

The Seattle area (Northwest Washington) leads the way here by a wide margin, more than tripling the top state from Southern and accounting for 82% of the PNW section's semi-final appearances and all the championships.  A lead makes sense, it is the largest district in PNW, but the margin is a bit of a surprise as well as how it ranks nationally.  If Seattle were its own section, it would rank #4 on the overall list!

Next, Northern Cal which has a seventeen of areas distinguished by flight.

Flight AreaSemi-finalistsChampions
San Francisco74
Diablo South70
Sacramento30
Diablo North30
General30
East Bay30
Marin21
Lower Peninsula20
South Bay20

Pretty good distribution, but San Francisco and Diablo South lead the way.  And note that the bulk of NorCal is effectively the greater Bay Area and removing Sacramento and the areas not bordering the Bay the total is 24, just behind Seattle, and a slightly broader definition has the total at 29, one ahead of Seattle.

Next, Texas splits things up by area of which there are 19.

Flight AreaSemi-finalistsChampions
Dallas157
Houston52
Austin30
San Antonio20
Amarillo10
NOHO10

Dallas clearly leads the way in Texas, they are the second area so far in double digits, but Houston has made a good showing.  Less than a third of the areas show up though.

Last, Southern Cal breaks things up by 11 areas and their showing at Nationals has been.

Flight AreaSemi-finalistsChampions
Orange County124
San Gabriel Valley81
San Diego51
Los Angeles10

Only four areas have made a showing, and Orange County leads the way, the third area in double digits, over San Gabriel Valley and San Diego.

Looking at the double digit semi appearance areas, we see that depending on how you define an area/district, Seattle and the San Francisco Bay Area are by far the ones most consistently making noise at Nationals.  Given the population of the Bay Area is more than twice the greater Seattle area, it is safe to say Seattle takes the title for most semis appearances per capita for any area/district/state and with more championships than NorCal outright leads the area/district/state list there.

Dallas deserves an honorable mention with 15 appearances, but with a population for the greater Dallas area a lot higher than Seattle, their per capita number is lower.  Orange County with a similar population to Seattle also deserves mention with 12 appearances.

While I am from Seattle, I did not set out on this analysis expecting Seattle to be the "winner", I was really more curious how Southern's numbers were split out.  I am proud to see how well Seattle has done though, and makes me feel a bit better about any losses I have against players here now :)

Note this goes a long way to explaining why the PNW and Seattle were hit especially hard with bump ups a few years ago when a big adjustment was made.  Is it possible the move of many Nationals to Alabama and Florida will increase other section's numbers and cause different adjustments in the future?

Wednesday, August 16, 2017

Which section does the best at USTA League Nationals? What will the location change do to the trend?

USTA League Nationals are just a couple months away now, and with many of the divisions/levels now being hosted in Florida or Alabama, it got me thinking about who traditionally has done well at Nationals and if the change of location is going to affect the who end up being the regular contenders.

Now, I can't very well write about how the trend has changed, not even one year at the new sites has been completed, but I will speculate a bit at the end of this post.  But first, we have to have a baseline to compare or start our discussion.

As a reminder, the USTA is made up of 17 different sections, each one able to send a team to Nationals in each division at each level.  These 17 teams are split into four flights, four with four teams and one with five teams.  The winner of each flight advances to the semi-finals, the winner of those matches playing in the final while the losers play for third place.

I've kept track of 1st thru 4th at Nationals for 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2016 so you can take a look at each of those to see all the details.  But for a simple baseline, to start I'll be taking a look at how many times since 2013 each section has had a team advance to the semi-finals and how many times they gone home with the championship banner.

So, here are the overall counts for both 18 & over and 40 & over divisions.

SectionSemi-finalistsChampions
Southern3714
Pacific Northwest348
Northern Cal325
Texas279
Southern Cal266
Caribbean2210
Florida228
Mid-Atlantic185
Intermountain172
Middle States162
Midwest131
New England131
Eastern113
Southwest92
Hawaii82
Missouri Valley51
Northern50

One section stands out by both making the most semis and winning the most titles and that is Southern.  The Pacific Northwest and Northern Cal are close behind in semis appearances but a bit back on titles.

Others that would probably be considered perennial contenders and having a number of titles include Southern Cal, Texas, Florida, Caribbean, Mid-Atlantic, and Intermountain.  Eastern and Southwest also have multiple titles and did so in fewer semis appearances that the others above them on the list.

A handful of sections have not won a title during this four year period.

From this, it appears that southern and warm weather states fare the best, six of the top seven fit that description, which is probably not a surprise as they typically have more playing opportunities and can play year-round or close to it.  The Pacific Northwest being so high is a bit of an anomaly as it is not southern nor warm weather.

It is interesting that tiny Caribbean does so well, and that highly populated areas like Middle States, New England, and Eastern are not higher up.

So with that as a baseline, what might happen as a result of the majority of Nationals no longer being in the California and Arizona desert?  I think there are likely four different factors to consider.

First is travel.

At first glance, one can see that what was a pretty convenient trip is going to be a far longer one for three of the top-four sections while it will be a lot more convenient for the top section and sections five through eight.  In general more sections will have shorter travel than before.  This could possibly be an equalizer for those teams lower on the list, but it could just make things easier for four of the top-seven teams and they could move even higher.

Second is weather.

The desert southwest is warm to hot during Nationals, but very dry which generally makes scheduling matches easy as there are rarely if ever weather delays.  Some might not be accustom to the dry heat though.

The new locations for Nationals are certainly not dry but could still be very warm.  Hot and humid conditions may prevail and weather delays may become likely.  Who can deal with the weather and possibly shortened matches will be key.  The teams from the west and southwest may be at a disadvantage and those in the southeast that are used to these conditions may be at an advantage.

Third is court surfaces.

With the 2017 Nationals clay courts will be used for several of the divisions and levels.  Hard courts are still used at the majority though.  So this may be a less important factor, but some sections do not play on clay let alone have clay courts available to practice on.  This will likely again be a negative for west coast, southwest, mountain, northern, and other sections and a big advantage for teams in the south, southeast, and east coast where clay courts are used and available.

Fourth is timezone.

I think everyone will admit traveling west is easier than traveling east.  Going east takes the whole day with the timezone change, and west coast folks then have to be up three hours earlier with 7am feeling like 4am.  Going west the timezone change gives you extra hours and 7am feels like 8am, 9am, or 10am depending where you are coming from.  So going east makes it harder on west coast sections or requires they go earlier to acclimate.

With all the factors, my hypothesis is that we will see a shift in which sections do well at Nationals.  The west coast and southwest teams may drop a bit and others, particularly those in the south and southeast will benefit.  We may not see this from just a single year of play, but with several years of data we'll see if it comes true.

What do you expect will happen?

For those that are interested, to break it out by division,  here is just 18+.

SectionSemi-finalistsChampions
Southern239
Pacific Northwest226
Northern Cal194
Southern Cal194
Texas166
Caribbean156
Florida143
Mid-Atlantic113
Intermountain102
Midwest71
New England70
Eastern62
Southwest60
Northern40
Middle States40
Missouri Valley31
Hawaii20

By and large the same order.

And for completeness, just 40+.

SectionSemi-finalistsChampions
Southern155
Northern Cal131
Middle States122
Pacific Northwest122
Texas113
Florida85
Caribbean74
Mid-Atlantic72
Southern Cal72
Intermountain70
Hawaii62
New England61
Midwest60
Eastern51
Southwest32
Missouri Valley20
Northern10

There is more of a change here, but many of the top sections from 18+ show up here too.


Tuesday, August 15, 2017

The first casualty of the 2017 USTA League early start rule change

I've written several times about the new rule for 2017 early start leagues in USTA League play and how it was a a recipe for disaster.  I don't mean to beat a dead horse, but it appears we have our first casualty of the new rule and a Sectional winner won't be going to Nationals.

For those just joining the story, for 2017, the USTA got rid of early start ratings and instead required players in 2017 early start leagues starting in 2016 to just use their 2015 year-end rating for joining the early start league.  The gotcha was that players that were bumped up at 2016 year-end would not be eligible to play at 2017 Nationals at their lower level, whereas with early start ratings players could remain eligible as they would have rostered using their early start rating.

That sort of makes sense, you don't want someone who is a 2016 year-end 4.0 to be able to be playing at 2017 3.5 Nationals.  Where the USTA goofed though, in my opinion, is that they left it up to each section to determine if these bumped up players would be eligible to continue to play in their local league, local playoffs, state/district playoffs, and Sectionals.

Some sections elected to allow these bumped up players to play through Sectionals, meaning a team could win their section on the shoulders of bumped up players that would not be eligible to go to Nationals on the team.  Southern was one of the sections that took this route and I wrote about the impending issue in looking at some teams headed for Sectionals.

Without going through all my reasoning and how this is unfair to other teams that must play the "ineligible team", you can click on the links above to take another look, what I predicted might happen has happened if reports I've heard are correct.  I've been told that a team in Southern that won Sectionals does not have enough players to go to Nationals and is having to give up their berth.  Apparently the runner up does not have this problem and will be able to go.

I'll refrain from naming the team as this is not official and until teams show up in the Nationals flights on TennisLink nothing is certain, but the short story is the team only had eight 2016 year-end at level players and either decided that wasn't enough, or perhaps one member couldn't go and the USTA doesn't allow teams to go to Nationals if they don't have a full roster.

Update: A deeper look reveals while the team had eight 2016 year-end at-level players on the roster, one had only played two matches on the team and a player must have played three to be eligible for Nationals, so they did only have seven eligible to go which National does not allow.

It may be this is the only team this happens to, other teams may be affected but not to this degree, but it is something I'd think a section would want to avoid.  Why have a format set up where a team that wins Sectionals can't go to Nationals?  That doesn't seem fair to their opponents at Sectionals or even States/Districts that got beaten by players and a team National considers ineligible.  Sure, the second place team gets to go, but what about the team that was second in their Sectionals flight and didn't get to make the final.  Or the second place team States/Districts that lost out on a trip to Sectionals?

What do you think?


Monday, August 14, 2017

Planning line-ups for USTA League playoff matches - Singles vs doubles, stack or not? Reports can help!

When teams make it to USTA League playoffs, line-ups become especially important.  Not that they aren't during the regular season of course, but during the regular season it is often more about getting players matches and managing folks availability over the course of the season.

But come playoffs, teams need to make a decision about getting everyone in matches, only playing the best players, or trying to blend those two in some way.

Good captains will have set an expectation with their rosters from the start of the year what the team's goals are and if everyone will get (relatively) equal playing time or if, especially come playoffs, preference will be given to the best players.  Doing this early can avoid a lot of angst and drama (but not all of it!), and just make the captains job easier.

Regardless of the approach, if a team wants to maximize their chances of winning, captains need to decide how to go about getting three court wins for each match.

First, not all teams are created equal.  If a captain knows who the tougher teams are, they can make sure they have their best players in the line-up for those matches, and they can perhaps rest a better player and get a weaker player in a match against a weaker opponent and not risk losing the team match.

Next, some teams have stronger singles than doubles, or stronger doubles than singles, and USTA rules do not require that stronger players play on court 1, so captains are allowed to juggle their players as they see fit.

In general, teams with strong singles players have an advantage as they can potentially get two court wins from just two players.  Just one strong doubles pair is then needed, or at least getting the best pair a favorable match-up, and one can get the three court wins from just four players.

But some teams don't have two strong singles players, or when facing another team that also has them, the two singles wins are not guaranteed, so captains must get more creative.

A common practice is to put one's strongest singles players on court 2 singles planning to get a win there, and then plan to get two doubles wins.  It may be a team has strong doubles players and can play straight-up (both pairs on courts 1 and 2) and be reasonably assured of wins, but sometimes a weaker team will try to "steal" a win by putting their weaker singles player on court 1 and weakest doubles pair on court 1 as well.

Another technique when one thinks they are overmatched at singles is to load up on doubles.  This is far riskier as it requires a team win all of the doubles, but doing so may give them their best chance if playing their best players in singles is likely to result in losses anyway.  And this strategy did work for a couple teams at recent PNW 18+ Sectionals that won 3-2 on just the doubles.

Obviously, this "stacking" of a line-up is not a new concept and opposing captains know it may happen, so they will counter any expected line-up juggling with their own and you can find the "#1 singles" guys playing each other on court 2, or the best doubles pairs facing off on court 3.

So what is a captain to do?

Some just roll their players out how they have all year, they advanced thus far and if it ain't broke don't fix it.

Others will scout their opponents and try to determine what to do, but some captains will have juggled things all year to make that hard to do.  But most teams, even if they intend to make it random, do have tendencies, particularly in playoffs.  And strong teams often don't need to stack at all, they will win regardless, and many captains think they are a strong team so this leads to them sticking with the tendencies they've established.  So if an opposing captain can identify those they can use it to their advantage.

To help with identifying these trends and tendencies, I started generating flight reports several years ago.  In their latest incarnation, these reports give a captain several great pieces of information:
  • The full roster average for each team.  With this, a captain can see who the stronger/weaker teams are in general and who the deepest teams are.  With this in hand, an overall plan of when to play stronger/weaker players can be established.
  • The average for the top-8 (or top-5 if three courts are being played) players on the team.  This tells a captain who is strongest/weakest if their best players are played which can also give guidance on general line-up planning.
  • The average rating of who played by court.  This can clearly show a teams tendencies and if they are stronger in singles or doubles, if they stack, and if so on what courts.  Some teams look balanced and are hard to predict, but most teams have definite tendencies.  And since the report breaks these averages out by regular season and playoffs, you can see how they change when the matches matter more.

But to make use of this info, a captain has to also understand their own team so they can actually get the advantageous match-ups.

At a high level this is usually pretty obvious, team practices and actual records and match results don't lie, you usually know who the better players are.  But there is sometimes more than meets the eye as some will do very well in practice against teammates they know well but not as well in matches against unfamiliar players.  Or some gaudy records may have been racked up against weak opponents and the player isn't really as strong as thought.

And when pairing doubles partners, unless the captain is going with the same tried and true pairings all the time, it can be useful to know who actually plays the best with who.

The flight report gives some of this info, a captain can see if they really are stronger in singles or doubles, or if the stacking they thought they were (or weren't) doing actually holds true.  But to get more details, I offer team reports that give my estimated rating for each player on a roster, what their rating was at the start of the year, what it was before their most recent match, and their record and courts played on the team.  It also includes the partner report that shows how each player's matches have rated with different partners so you can see who plays best with who.

Whether for your own team or an opponent, this gives insight to help plan line-ups and even match strategy as your players can know who the stronger/weaker player is and thus who to target from the start of the match.

I generate any of my reports on request and can customize or tailor them to specific needs and offer discussion and suggestions on how best to use the information.  I do charge for them as generating accurate ratings does involve some time and effort, but most reports end up costing the equivalent of a cup of coffee per member of your team so really are a great value if you want to maximize your chances in playoffs.  It seems like a no-brainer to spend a few bucks to give yourself a chance of making a playoff weekend not just a fun but also a winning experience.

And yes, they work.  Over the past 4-5 years many report customers have advanced to and even won Nationals, often doing better than expected in part because the reports helped them plan effectively.  Last year, a report customer won Nationals and was arguably the underdog in three or four of their five matches, but the won all five, four of them just 3-2, by knowing the tendencies of their opponent and getting favorable match-ups to perhaps "steal" a win.

And from personal experience, a team I captained won our first match at Sectionals 5-0 in part because I got the match-ups I wanted, and then I knew we were playing a team loaded at singles so I loaded up in doubles.  I got the match-ups I wanted again and we won two of the doubles courts, but the third went to a match tie-break and my guys came up just short.  But it was the right strategy, I'd take my guys in that match again any day, and had I tried to win a singles court with another player who played doubles, we might have lost 4-1 rather than 3-2.

In a match between closely rated teams, how the players do on that given day is obviously a big factor, but putting them in the best position to win can be the difference between a team win or loss.

There is still plenty of time to get reports for any phase of playoffs remaining this year.  If interested, contact me via e-mail or on Facebook or Twitter.

Upcoming USTA League playoffs for the weekend of 8/18-20

It is playoff season for USTA League and more are scheduled for this upcoming week or weekend.

The Sectionals include:

  • Eastern 18+ Sectionals
  • Intermountain 18+ Sectionals
  • Midwest 18+ Sectionals
  • Southern Cal 40+ Sectionals
  • Florida 18+ Sectionals
  • Middle States 18+ Sectionals
  • New England 18+ Sectionals
  • Northern 18+ Sectionals

And there are still some non-Sectionals playoffs taking place:
  • Mid-Atlantic Maryland 40+ Regionals
  • Texas Fort Worth 40+ Playoffs
  • Eastern 40+ Playoffs

As always I'm generating accurate team, or flight reports, and ratings have been very accurate predicting results and are a great way to scout opponents and plan line-ups.

And if you just finished playing in playoffs and are done for the year, now is a great time to get an individual report to see the details of where you are likely to end the year.

Contact me if you are interested in any reports.

Sunday, August 13, 2017

2017 USTA League Pacific Northwest 18 & over Sectionals results - Seattle area teams dominate and are headed to Nationals

After my update on the PNW 18+ Sectionals through two days, matches are complete and it is time to see who won and punched their ticket to Nationals.  This time we'll go highest level to lowest.

NTRP LevelWinnerRunner-upComments
5.0+ MNWW-RobinswoodNWW-Mercer IslandWon 2-1, had won 2-1 at local playoffs
5.0+ WNWW-Bellevue TANO-Sunset ACWon flight with 3-0 record
4.5 MSWW-SprinkerNWW-NordstrumWon 3-2, one court an upset in a MTB
4.5 WNWW-Seattle TCEW-Hood RiverWon 3-2, three courts went to MTBs, NWW won two of them
4.0 MNWW-NguyenNO-Lake OswegoWon 4-1
4.0 WNO-Portland TCSO-Eugene S&TCWon 3-2, four(!) went to MTBs
3.5 MNWW-Mill CreekNWW-Sand PointWon 3-2, had won local playoffs 3-2, won all the doubles
3.5 WNWW-Bellevue ClubNO-Sunset ACWon 3-2
3.0 MNWW-RobinswoodNO-Tualitin HillsWon 3-2, won all the doubles
3.0 WNWW-Sand PointNO-MultnomahWon 4-1
2.5 MNWW-Forest CrestNWW-Eastside TCWon flight 2-1
2.5 WNWW-RobinswoodNWW-Amy YeeWon 3-0

Key:
EW - Eastern Washington
NWW - Northwest Washington, i.e. Seattle
NO - Northern Oregon, i.e. Portland
SO - Southern Oregon
SWW - Southwest Washington

With the 2.5 men still TBD, but both teams from Seattle, the totals by district are:
  • Seattle - 10
  • Portland - 1
  • Southwest Washington - 1

Seattle does have the most players generally and so has the largest pool of players to pull from and so does often lead the way at Sectionals, and in fact, last year at 18+ Sectionals Seattle won 11 of 12, so this year is actually a "down" year I guess.

But it was close, with 7 of the 10 played finals being 3-2 or 2-1 wins, so just one court difference could have changed a bunch of those results.

Well done to all those that played, and good luck to those headed to Nationals!

USTA League Pacific Northwest 18 & over Sectionals Update - Seattle dominates through the first two days

Sectionals for the Pacific Northwest 18 & over are taking place this weekend in Spokane.  Here is an update as we go into the final day.

The 2.5 women's final finds Robinswood and Amy Yee going undefeated in their flights resulting in a repeat of Seattle local playoffs when Robinswood prevailed 2-1.

The 2.5 men has two more Seattle teams in ETC and Forest Crest the only teams there and 1-1 going into their last match.  They were both 6-3 in local league play with ETC having the 2-1 advantage.

At 3.0, the women final has Sand Point from Seattle going up against Multnomah from Portland who split their round robin with Eastside but won the courts won/lost tie-breaker.

The 3.0 men's final has Robinswood facing Tualitin who had a loss and had to win their last match 3-2 to advance to the final.

At 3.5, for the women, Bellevue Club won their flight but the other flight has not finished it seems with Robinswood and Sunset from Portland both listed as 2-0.

The 3.5 men has Mill Creek from Seattle and Sand Point both going undefeated in flight facing off in the final, Mill Creek having won local playoffs 3-2.

At 4.0, Oregon dominated with Eugene facing off against Portland.

The 4.0 men has an Independent team from Seattle going against Lake Oswego from Portland.

At 4.5, the women's final finds Seattle TC and Hood River from Eastern Washington going undefeated and facing off for the trip to Nationals.

The 4.5 men finds Nordstrom from Seattle winning a tight flight on a head-to-head tie-breaker facing off against Sprinker from Southwest Washington.

The last level, 5.0+, has the women's decided with Bellevue Tennis Academy winning the flight 3-0.

The 5.0 men has Robinswood winning easy and facing Mercer Island who had to win a three-way 2-2 tie on courts won/lost, Robinswood having won local playoffs 2-1.

The totals by district are 16 teams from Seattle having won or still in it, 5 from Portland, and one each from Southern Oregon, Eastern Washington, and Southwest Washington.

Good luck to all, a review to come when it is all finished.

Friday, August 11, 2017

2017 USTA League playoffs this weekend - Sectionals begin to ramp up

This weekend, August 11 thru 13, sees a big ramp up in the USTA League playoff action.  While the largest section (Southern) has completed their 18+ and 40+ Sectionals, other sections are joining the fun this weekend.  These include:

  • Eastern 18+/40+ some levels
  • Florida 18+ some levels
  • Mid-Atlantic 18+
  • Missouri Valley 18+ and 55+
  • Pacific Northwest 18+
  • Southern Cal 40+
  • Southwest 18+
  • Texas 18+ some levels

Other non-Sectional playoffs are also going on including:
  • Eastern 40+ local/district playoffs
  • Eastern Tri-Level Regionals
  • Mid-Atlantic Maryland 40+ Regionals
  • Middle States Philadelphia 18+ Districts
  • Midwest 18+/40+ States
  • New England 40+ Districts

Good luck to all!

Friday, August 4, 2017

2017 Pacific Northwest 18 & over Sectionals preview

August is the month for Sectionals in the Pacific Northwest section of the USTA and things get started in a week with the 18 & over division in Spokane the 11th-13th and then 40 & over two weeks later in Portland.

Being from the Seattle area, I like to take a peek at my flight reports to see who the favorites are and what district they are from.  So is is a quick preview with a few observations from the top-8 averages for each team.

2.5 Women

Two flights, a Seattle team leads the way in one flight and a Portland one in the other, the Seattle one favored to win it all.

2.5 Men

Just three teams, a Seattle team is the favorite.

3.0 Women

Two flights, a Seattle team leads the way in one flight and a Portland one in the other, the Seattle one favored to win it all.

3.0 Men

Two flights, a Seattle team favored in each one.

3.5 Women

Two flights, a Portland team leads the way in one, Seattle in the other, but Portland is the overall favorite.

3.5 Men

Two flights, Eastern Washington makes an appearance as the favorite in one, a Portland team in the other, Eastern Washington the overall favorite.

4.0 Women

Two flights, Oregon teams lead the way in both flights, the Southern Oregon team the overall favorite over the Portland one.

4.0 Men

Two flights, Seattle and Portland teams are the favorites, Seattle the overall favorite.

4.5 Women

Two flights, Eastern Washington leads the tougher flight, Seattle the other, Eastern Washington the overall favorite.

4.5 Men

Two flights, Seattle and Portland yet again, Seattle the overall favorite.

5.0+ Women

One flight, Portland and Seattle teams the favorites.

5.0+ Men

Two flights, Southern Oregon and Seattle teams the favorites in the flights, Southern Oregon overall.

There you have it, good luck to all the teams.  Contact me if interested in more details on any flight.

USTA League playoffs on tap for this weekend - The road to Nationals is heating up

With the warm summer weather comes more playoffs this weekend.

  • Eastern is holding Districts/Regionals in Southern and Long Island regions in 18+ and 40+
  • Mid-Atlantic has Virginia Regionals
  • Middle States has Districts for 18+ in New Jersey
  • Missouri Valley has 40+ Districts in Oklahoma
  • New England has 18+ and 40+ Districts in nearly every district
  • Midwest has Districts/States in nearly every district
  • Northern 55+ Sectionals
  • Texas 18+ Sectionals for lower levels

It is never too late to get a flight or team report if you want to prepare or scout, contact me if interested.

Good luck to all!