USTA League Tri-Level Invitational is on for 2021!

I did not see an announcement or e-mail from the USTA on this, and I otherwise missed seeing it, but I learned today that the Tri-Level Invitational, that has typically been held in March at Indian Wells Tennis Garden, is scheduled to be played in March 2021 in Surprise, AZ!  The event is officially called the Tri-Level National Invitational and will be held March 5-7.

This is good news in general, it is good to see events being held and a little bit of "life as normal" reappearing, but especially for those players and teams that have qualified.

The location change is due to a few factors I think, namely restrictions in California likely precluded holding the event there, but I also understand the Tournament Director who championed the event in the past is no longer at IWTG so even if it could have been held, it may not have been a priority.

So what else has changed other than the location?

First, selection of invitees likely has to be a little creative this time around.  With the 2020 shutdown of league play for several months, many sections likely didn't have Tri-Level leagues, or if they did may not have made it through to Sectionals, so who gets to go?  My guess, and what I believe PNW is doing, is to offer spots to the teams that qualified from 2019 and did not get to play at the event in 2020.  But check with your Section Coordinator for specifics.

Second, with no ATP/WTA event going on immediately before/after the Invitational, is there a perk?  It appears tentative plans are in place to have complementary tickets to a Spring Training baseball game as Surprise is the Spring Training home to the Texas Rangers and Kansas City Royals.  That of course is dependent on MLB not delaying Spring Training and a variety of other factors I'm sure.

Third, the event is being run by the USTA.  In prior years, it was an invitational run by IWTG and just happened to invite Tri-Level winners from each section, but the event was not a USTA sanctioned event and results did not show up on a player's record.  As a USTA run event, I understand TennisLink will be used to manage the event much like Nationals, meaning results will show up on a player's record, and there is a chance the matches may count towards a player's rating.

Fourth, in the past, I understand that self-rated players were not eligible to play at the Invitational.  The USTA's rules however appear to allow for up to 3 self-rates, appeals, mixed-exclusive, or tournament-exclusive rated players per team to appeal to be allowed to play.  The appeal will be reviewed by the tournament. committee, but the player must also have played four matches in an advancing league during calendar year 2020.

I actually liked self-rates not being eligible for this event in the past, but can see the USTA's desire to be a little flexible.  Let's hope they are very strict with the appeal review and only allow players to play if their match results really do indicate they are at the right level.

Fifth, I don't know if this is a change or not, but the format will use the un-flighted round-robin used at recent Nationals where a team will play four matches against random opponents, with the top-4 teams in the standings using standard TennisLink tie-breakers, will advance to the semis.  Yes, this means the broken tie-breakers of sets lost and games lost continue to be used and may result in the wrong team advancing, or an undefeated team not advancing.

There is a long list of COVID related rules and guidelines in the tournament handbook, but it does not list players as having to wear masks, but spectators will be required to wear them.

It is great to see the event being held for 2021, good luck to all the teams headed there!