More teams advance in USTA League playoffs - Maryland, Colorado, Utah, New Jersey, Delaware, New England, and more hold Flight or District playoffs

The path to Nationals goes through many stages for most teams, from local/flight playoffs, to Regionals/Districts/States, to Sectionals, and finally Nationals.  July and August are when playoffs really heat up and this weekend was no exception.

Maryland held their 18 & over Regionals, Colorado and Utah held 18 & over Districts, New Jersey held some 18 & over Regionals, and more areas had flight playoffs or Districts.

I was pleased to see several teams that have gotten team or flight reports advance.  In some cases they were favorites so expected to win, but the reports still helped them prepare and get their line-ups right to make sure there wasn't an upset.

Southern held some Sectionals a week ago, but August really gets going with most sections having Sectionals of some sort.

Whether you are headed to Sectionals or you are still going through earlier rounds of playoffs, team or flight reports are a great way to help scout your playoff matches.  Contact me for more information.

What USTA League playoffs are you playing in this month?

This is a busy time of year for USTA League playoffs as teams strive to make it to Nationals.  In some sections, notably in the southern states where they started play earlier in the year, Sectionals have already been or will be played in the next week or so.  Others are just playing local playoffs or Districts with Sectionals to be played later in August or even September.

Here are a few I'm aware of:

• 7/29-31 - Northern Oregon Adult 40+ local playoffs
• 7/29-31 - Northwest Washington Mixed 40+ local playoffs
• 7/29-31 - Colorado 18+ Districts
• 7/29-31 - New Jersey 18+ Regionals
• 8/5-7 - NorCal Adult 18+ Districts
• 8/5-7 - Texas Adult 18+ Sectionals (4.0 & up)
• 8/12-14 - Pacific Northwest Adult 18+ Sectionals
• 8/12-14 - SoCal Adult 18+ Sectionals
• 8/12-14 - Texas Adult 18+ Sectionals (3.5 & below)
• 8/19-21 - Eastern 18+ Sectionals
• 8/19-21 - Southern Adult 40+ Sectionals
• 8/26-28 - NorCal Adult 18+ Sectionals
• 8/26-28 - Pacific Northwest Adult 40+ Sectionals
• 8/26-28 - SoCal Adult 40+ Sectionals
• 9/16-18 - Texas Adult 40+ Sectionals
• 9/17-19 - Pacific Northwest Mixed 40+ Sectionals

What playoffs am I missing that you are following or playing at?

2016 USTA Southern 18+ Sectionals complete - Who is going to Nationals?

The 2016 Southern 18 & over Sectionals was this past weekend and with the completion, more teams are headed to Nationals.

In what I review below, I'm comparing teams using their top-8 average which is one of the tables provided in my sub-flight reports that are a great way to scout opponents.

The 2.5 Women found the favorite going in, Tennessee/Huffman, playing South Carolina/Strenck who had pulled a few upsets to get there.  Tennessee got the 2-1 win and is headed to Nationals.

The 2.5 Men just had a round-robin flight and the #3 and #4 seeds in Louisiana/Kingsley and Alabama/Sims both went 3-1 with Louisiana/Kingsley getting the nod for the title.

The 3.0 Women saw Arkansas/Boen, the narrow #4 seed in their flight winning over Alabama(B)/Jones, the #3 seed in their flight.

The 3.0 Men had Georgia/Rauber, the #1 overall seed, winning over Mississippi/Lawrence, the #1 seed in their flight.

The 3.5 Women had the top-2 overall seeds in the final with whopping 3.67 and 3.66 top-8 averages with #2 seed Alabama/Raggio coming out on top over Tennessee/Cooper.

The 3.5 Men saw Mississippi/Craig, the narrow #2 seed in their flight take the title over Arkansas/Terrell, the #3 seed in theirs.

The 4.0 Women had Arkansas/Coleman the last seed in their flight complete the upsets with a win over North Carolina/Lantry, the #3 seed in their flight.

The 4.0 Men saw Mississippi/Hardin, the last seed in their flight also complete the upsets win over Southern/South Carolina/Edwards, the #2 seed in their flight.

The 4.5 Women saw Mississippi/Foil, the top seed in their flight win over another last seed in Arkansas/Palecek.

The 4.5 Men had Georgia/DeWolf taking the title over Mississippi/Haddox, both #2 seeds in their flights.

The 5.0+ Women had a single flight with North Carolina/Vandemore going 4-0 as the #2 seed.

Last, the 5.0+ Men had North Carolina/May win it all beating North Carolina/Beecher, each the #1 seed in their flights.

Congratulations to all!

Hypothetical USTA Eastern Long Island 2017 Early Start List

I've written about the USTA doing away with Early Start Lists and as a service have decided to publish some hypothetical Early Start Lists of my own.  I already published a list for Seattle, Southern Oregon, and Eastern Washington, and I already branched outside the Pacific Northwest the with Metropolitan Region district in the Eastern section, now here is the Long Island district.

But before you take a look at the list, the same comments and caveats as before still apply.

1. The list is based on my Estimated Dynamic NTRP Ratings.  This is not a list from the USTA and is not to be used for registering for Early Start Leagues.  It is only hypothetical.
2. While my ratings are very accurate for the vast majority of players, they are not perfect and may be a few hundredths off in which case I could have a player at 3.52 and an early start 4.0 while their real rating is 3.49 which would be a 3.5.
3. Early Start Ratings do not necessarily tell you what your year-end rating will be, even if you don't play any more matches.  Year-end calculations factoring in playoffs and how your area/district/section did in playoffs can move player's ratings up or down from the Early Start level.
4. If you don't see your name and you expected a bump up/down, or you see your name and are surprised and want to know why, contact me at ratings@teravation.net and I can give you details on how to get an Estimated Dynamic NTRP Rating Report that will give all the background on why your estimated rating is where it is.
5. Note that I'm publishing this list a bit early.  I think the Early Start List for this area was published in August last year, but folks were interested so I'm doing it now.

With that said, on to the list!  The below shows only those players that I estimate would be bumped up or down on the Early Start List and I simply show a name, city, and the hypothetical Early Start level.  If your name isn't shown, I estimate your rating to be unchanged.

First the women:

Name	City	Level
Ada Luz Coonerty	Garden City	3.0
Adele Mancuso	Brooklyn	4.5
Aina Erickson	Sea Cliff	4.5
alison brooks wallace	Lloyd Harbor	3.5
Alison Sannella Galloway	Baldwin	2.5
Alison Seipp	Glen Head	3.5
Alistaire Bambach	Garden City	3.5
Allison Greenberg	Delmar	5.0
Alyssa Sepe	Rockville Centre	3.5
amy chiang	Syosset	3.0
Amy Damelio	Cold Spring Harbor	3.0
Anastassia Schlussel	Lawrence	3.5
andrea dunbar	Greenlawn	3.5
Andrea Nugent	Port Jefferson Station	3.5
Angela Castillo	Closter	4.5
Angela M. Scarnato	Wantagh	2.5
Anique Lee	Long Beach	3.0
Annabelle Rosenzweig	Merrick	2.5
Anne McConville	Fort Salonga	3.5
Antonella Karlin	East Rockaway	5.0
Aphrodite Vorillas	Manhasset	4.0
Arlene P Northcote	Halesite	3.0
Armi Viti	Babylon	2.5
Barbara A. Borden	Hewlett	3.5
Barbara Perri	Floral Park	3.5
Barbara T Schmidt	Rockville Centre	2.5
Barbara Yusko	Sayville	3.0
Belle Tia	Levittown	2.5
Beth Costa	West Babylon	4.0
Beth L. Mercante	Lido Beach	4.0
Bonnie Liebman	Commack	3.5
Brenda P. Rosenberg	Melville	4.0
Bridget Reynolds	East Northport	2.5
Carol Diamond	Rockville Ctr	3.0
Caroline Austin	Stony Brook	3.5
Carolyn Faith Schechner	Bellmore	2.5
Carolyn Kris	Old Bethpage	3.0
Caryn Gallitto	Merrick	3.0
Catherine M. Crifasi	Malverne	3.0
Catherine Wang	Bayside	3.0
Cathy Caldwell	Copiague	3.0
Cheryl M. Segall	Syosset	4.5
Christine Kara Pullian	Merrick	3.5
Christine R. Klouda	Port Jefferson Station	3.5
Cindy L Couluris	Patchogue	3.0
Connie Insignares	E Northport	3.5
Cori Forster	Dix Hills	2.5
Corinne Moschetti	Sayville	3.5
Dale Elgort	Melville	4.0
Dana Slackman	Commack	4.0
danielle paulus	Port Jefferson	3.0
Dawn H. Young	Sayville	3.5
Debbie Franks	Selden	4.5
Debbie Groark	Long Beach	2.5
Debbie Hung	Setauket	3.5
Deborah A. Trimboli	Massapequa Park	3.0
Deborah Gage	Merrick	2.5
Deborah Sarah Gallin	Setauket	2.5
deborah T defelice	Cold Spring Harbor	3.0
Devon Carroll	Cold Spring Harbor	4.0
Diane Meyers	Long Beach	2.5
diane noto	Merrick	3.5
Donna Hallas	Levittown	3.0
Doreen Lynn Cook	Smithtown	4.0
Doris Ann Duignan	Lynbrook	3.0
Elizabeth Levit	Bellmore	4.0
Elizabeth M. Keely	Oakdale	4.0
Elizabeth Murray	Garden City	3.5
Elizabeth Signore	Glen Head	3.0
Ellen Huang	Farmingdale	3.5
Ellen Huhulea	Rockville Centre	4.5
Ellie Wang	Syosset	3.5
Emma Julie Brandt	Huntington	4.0
Faith Reiss	Merrick	3.5
Francine Zinerco	Seaford	4.0
Gaetana Smith	Lloyd Harbor	3.0
Georgina Merrihew	Islip	3.5
Geri Verola	Glen Head	3.5
Ginny McGowan	Hempstead	3.5
Hali Rachel Katz	Woodbury	5.0
Heather Moskowitz	Woodbury	3.0
Heidi Esposito	Port Washington	4.5
Helen Rubin	Woodbury	3.5
Helene G. Messilaty	Hewlett	3.5
Ilene Glatman	Commack	2.5
Iveta Scioscia	East Setauket	3.0
Jaclyn L. Morrison	Merrick	2.5
Jacqueline Peiffer	Bethpage	2.5
Jane Brown	Huntington	4.0
Jane D Thaler	Oyster Bay	3.5
Janine Debellis	Cold Spg Hbr	4.0
Jayne H Golub	Woodbury	3.0
Jean M Skolnick	Sayville	3.0
Jean Tanklowitz	East Meadow	3.0
Jeanette Romano	East Setauket	4.0
Jeanne-Marie Buccellato	Garden City	4.0
Jeannie Luna	Smithtown	3.0
Jemmifer Fridman	Huntington Station	5.0
Jen Kelly	Manhasset	3.5
Jenna Levin	East Meadow	3.5
Jennifer Marshak	East Setauket	4.0
Jennifer Rose Schonhoff	Saint James	3.5
Jennifer Suh-McCormack	Bayport	4.0
Jenny Bencardino	Jericho	2.5
Jerilyn Jud	Glen Head	4.5
Jill Marie Rector	Long Beach	3.0
Joann Esposito	Huntington	3.0
Josefina M. Essex	Sayville	3.0
Joy Borrero	Bayport	3.5
Joy martinsen	Fort Salonga	3.5
Judy Damore	Setauket	4.0
julie mischo	Bayport	3.5
Karen Calace	West Palm Beach	3.0
Karen Dunbar	Lake Grove	3.5
Karen E Groeger	Rockville Centre	3.5
Karen Levine	Bellmore	4.5
Kate Kincaid	Huntington	4.0
Katherine VandeBerghe	Commack	4.5
Kelly Ann Mason	Setauket	3.5
Kendall Kutner	Rockville Centre	4.0
Kiki Sandra Haas	Cedarhurst	3.5
Kim Oricoli	Northport	3.5
kim scanlon	Commack	3.5
Kirstin Stickney	Brightwaters	3.5
kris adams	Port Jefferson	3.5
LaDonna Yousha	Wantagh	3.5
Laura Greenfield	Smithtown	3.5
Laureen Carapellucci	Amityville	2.5
Lauren Castellano	Long Beach	4.0
Lauren Siegel	Deer Park	3.0
Laurie Schoenfeld	Dix Hills	4.0
Leah Carroll	East Meadow	3.0
leslie ann levchuck	Greenlawn	3.0
Lily Tang	Brooklyn	3.5
Linda Goldstein	Oceanside	3.0
Linda Krauthamer	Commack	4.0
Linda Sarfati	Bellmore	3.5
Lisa Landau	Bellmore	4.0
Lorelei McGlynn	Northport	2.5
Lori Bader	Oceanside	3.5
Luzan Moore	Long Beach	4.0
Marci J. Last	Hewlett	3.5
Marcie M. Zeitlin	Great Neck	4.0
Margaret McNamara	Hauppauge	3.0
Maria J. Mineo	Mount Sinai	2.5
Marian B. Morris	Long Beach	2.5
Marilena F DiScala	Syosset	3.5
Marilyn M. Durso	Massapequa	3.5
Marisa Ruta	Garden City	2.5
Marlaina Teich	Merrick	4.0
Mary Ann Ferguson	Rockville Ctr	3.0
Mary Margaret Mohrman	Southampton	3.0
Mary McLean	East Islip	3.0
Mary N. O'Grady	East Northport	3.0
Maryclair Leistman	Garden City	3.0
Marylou McCabe	White Plains	3.0
Maxine Sharon Oresky	Syosset	3.5
mehves sucato	Astoria	4.0
melissa reichbach	Roslyn	3.0
Melissa Schneider	Oceanside	2.5
Micheline Laurent	East Northport	3.5
michelle nuccio	Merrick	3.5
Milta R. Maryles	East Northport	3.5
Mina Fournaris	Setauket	2.5
MINA MANDELBAUM	Roslyn Hts	3.5
Mindy D. Ehrlich	Commack	3.0
Misha Monticciolo	Coram	4.0
Nancy DAmato	Commack	3.5
Nancy Lefkowitz	Manhasset	4.0
Naomi glazer	Woodbury	2.5
Nikki Ullman	Huntington Station	3.5
Nina Litvinenko	Mount Sinai	3.5
Ninoska Malik	Melville	4.0
Pamela Charles	Great Neck	4.0
Patricia Calire	Lake Grove	3.0
Peggy L Maslow	Port Washington	3.5
Penny Zagalis	Douglaston	3.5
Ramona Adriana Weinstein	Rockville Centre	4.0
Rekha Gupta	Glen Head	3.5
Robin Baren	Commack	3.0
ROKSOLANA SHYYKA	south setauket	2.5
Rosalynn Steele	Long Beach	3.0
Salpi Cooperstone	Merrick	3.5
Shari Brown	Merrick	3.5
Shelley Van Blerkom	Bayside	3.5
Sloane A Barrie	Jericho	3.0
Sondra Glueck	Great Neck	4.0
Staci D. Gura	Bellmore	4.0
Stephanie Fein	Merrick	4.5
Susan A. Bacey	Dix Hills	4.5
Susan Barry	Rockville Centre	3.5
Susan May	Huntington	3.0
Susan Merola	Merrick	3.0
Susan Spagnoli	Stony Brook	2.5
Suzanne M. Sullivan	Rockville Ctr	4.0
Suzanne Prezorski	Deer Park	3.0
Sydney Betts Voros	Setauket	3.0
Tara Kelly	Rockville Centre	3.5
tatiana frekhtman	Woodmere	3.0
Terri Ciaramello	East Rockaway	3.5
Terry Reich	Valley Stream	2.5
Theoni Anagnostou	Merrick	3.5
Therese Direnzo	Oyster Bay	3.5
Tracey Reyhani	Woodbury	2.5
Tracy Kleinberg	Dix Hills	3.5
Tricia Y Kaplan	Mount Sinai	2.5
Troy Holt	Setauket	4.0
Virginia Ross	Oyster Bay	3.5
wendy funk	Bellmore	4.5
Wendy Lee Janny	Stony Brook	4.5
Wendy Stechman	Seaford	3.5
Wendy Streigold	Valley Stream	4.5
Yvonne Evelyn	Huntington	3.5
Zebo Sokolskiy	Hewlett	2.5
Zsuzsa Price	Bay Shore	3.5

And the men:

Name	City	Level
adam jagoda	Oakdale	4.0
Alan G. Schoenberg	Oceanside	3.5
Andreas Berner	New York	4.0
Anthony J Leggio	Centereach	3.5
Arkady Frekhtman	Woodmere	3.5
asher abitbol	West Hempstead	3.5
Benjamin L Mazza	Bellmore	3.5
brian ketover	Woodbury	4.0
Cameron Daniels	Oakland Gardens	5.0
Cecil M. Hollins	Laurelton	4.0
Charles Zadoff	Lynbrook	3.0
Chris A Morales	Astoria	5.0
Dane Phillips	Plainview	4.5
Danny Kresh	Commack	4.0
Darren Senzon	Stamford	4.0
David Berman	Merrick	3.5
David J. Brent	Woodmere	4.0
David Ng	East Williston	3.5
Devang Madhu Parmar	auburndale	5.0
dilip s nair	Islip	3.5
Ernesto Puteri	Seaford	3.5
Gary J McNulty	Smithtown	4.5
gary kittredge	Miller Place	3.5
George H Brooks	Northport	4.0
Gregg DiNino	East Meadow	4.0
Gregory Ciuffo	Merrick	4.0
Horst Steinsdoerfer	Levittown	4.0
HSIAOPIN LIU	Farmingdale	4.0
Ivor Chan	Rosedale	3.5
Jason Pessel	Rockville Centre	4.0
Jayson Blau	Forest Hills	4.5
Jeffrey M. De Weever	Farmingdale	4.5
Jerry Chang	Sands Point	4.5
Jim Walther	Copiague	3.5
john cissel	Saint James	4.0
John K Yoo	Setauket	4.0
John Thomas James	East Patchogue	4.0
Jonathan Klein	Carle Place	5.0
Jonathan P Nelson	Setauket	4.0
Joseph Polestino	Greenlawn	5.0
Joseph Tabak	Valley Stream	4.0
Joshua Slifkin	Forest Hills	5.0
Julian Dickson	Wyandanch	3.5
Kenneth Gaudio	Miller Place	4.5
Kevin Droutman	Lake Grove	4.0
Kevin Kim	Rocky Point	4.5
Kevin Peters	Manorville	4.0
Lawrence Ham	Freeport	3.5
Marc Spencer Werner	New York	4.5
Mario Montoya	East Setauket	3.5
Mariusz Jaskowski	Malverne	3.5
Mark E Daly	Forest Hills	4.0
Mark Fischl	Huntington	5.0
Mark Freeley	East Setauket	3.5
Mark H Goldman	Port Washington	4.0
Mark Julian Baker	North Baldwin	5.0
Matthew Spindler	Roslyn	4.5
Michael Cohen	Merrick	3.0
Michael Joseph Casamassima	Smithtown	4.5
Michael Slutsky	Stony Brook	3.0
Michael Yeamans	Farmingville	3.5
mike solow	Rockville Centre	4.0
Patrick M. Ruddick	Massapequa Park	4.0
Peter Hsieh	Great Neck	3.5
Peter Morgis	Armonk	4.0
Phil Monticciolo	Coram	3.0
Ralph P Habib	Northport	4.0
Rick Y. Chen	Fresh Meadows	4.0
Robert Kaiserman	Setauket	3.5
Robert M Morgillo	Plainview	4.0
Robert S. Chesney	Malverne	4.5
Robert Thomas Lynch	Mount Sinai	3.5
Ross Binder	Merrick	4.0
Ryan T. Musalo	Massapequa Park	5.0
Shane Lefebvre	Deer Park	4.0
Shashikanth Sevanan	Kings Park	3.5
Stan Yurynets	Rockville Centre	3.5
steve geller	East Quogue	4.5
Stuart Kamelhar	Bellmore	3.5
Talbert A Isaacs	Jamaica	4.0
Timothy Shelley	Long Beach	3.5
Vikram Gupta	Bayside	4.5
Wayne Freeman	Port Jefferson Station	3.5

USTA Southern 2016 18 & over Sectionals Day 1 Review

Day 1 is complete at the Southern 18+ sectionals and here is how things stand for a few select flights.

The 3.0 Men Flight II saw the favorite in the flight, Louisiana-Potter/Richardson, race out to a 2-0 record while form held behind them with the two lowest rated teams going winless and the two mid-pack teams both picking up a win.

The 3.5 Women Flight II has the favorite, Alabama-Raggio with a 2-0 record, while North Carolina-Sheeler was expected to vie for 2nd in the flight but is 0-2.

The 4.0 Men Flight I saw the favorite, Alabama-Fusaiotti go 2-0, but the upstart in the flight is Mississippi-Harden who had the lowest top-8 rating in the flight but had a nice 4-1 win today.

Last, the 4.5 Women Flight I has the favorite, North Carolina-Morris a surprising 0-1 after a close 3-2 loss, while the lowest rated team, Arkansas-Palacek is 1-0.

A lot of tennis still to be played.  Stay tuned for more updates or if you'd like to get a flight report and see who the favorites are or who their strong competition is, contact me.

USTA Southern 2016 18 & over Sectionals this weekend in Mobile

The Southern section is holding their 18+ sectionals this weekend in Mobile, AL.  Southern routinely does well at Nationals, so the teams that make it through this weekend could be favorites to win it all in the few months.

I'll check in over the weekend on progress and if things are going as the numbers say.

No more Early Start Ratings, how will captains recruit and form their rosters? New info from the PNW section

If you are a regular reader of this blog, this is not news to you, I've written before that Early Start Ratings are gone for 2017 leagues and the PNW section elected to not allow bumped up players to play at their early start level at Sectionals.  Southern on the other hand is allowing players to play through Sectionals at their early start level even though they can't play at Nationals at that level.

What is new is that in another PNW newsletter today, they provided a link to a page saying more about the subject and going so far as to suggest teams think about the implications of bump ups and make sure they have players of appropriate levels to accommodate potential bumps.

For example, an 8.0 Mixed team may have a roster full of 4.0 men and women.  If any of those players were to be bumped up to 4.5, they would be ineligible to play at Sectionals as they would have to play with a 3.5.  So the suggestion is to have a 3.5 or two on the roster so the bumped up 4.5 can still play.  Now the 3.5 still has to have played their two matches to be eligible for Sectionals, so they may have to play as a "7.5" pair or the team needs to have a corresponding 4.5 for them to play with.  Note that if a 4.5 were to be bumped up, they could not play at all going forward as a 5.0/3.0 combination is not valid for 8.0 Mixed.

This can lead to some interesting recruiting and team formation.  Do you get strong players for their level and risk them being bumped up at year-end and wreaking havoc on the roster?  Do you avoid having just just players at one level to give some flexibility?  Or do you avoid having only the "best" players to try to ensure you don't have problems?

To try to help players with this, I've been publishing some hypothetical early start lists for several different areas, and will likely publish more, and folks can use these to see if I project players to be bumped up at this point.  You probably wouldn't want to get a complete roster of players projected to be bumped up!

But the early start lists I publish don't show the players that may be just a hundredth or so away and could be bumped up at year-end, nor can you tell how close a player is that is going to Sectionals and could have their rating go up.  So if you'd like more information on a player or list of players, contact me and I can help with recruiting, player lists, team reports, or just regular individual reports to help you see where players are likely to be rated and their risk of being bumped up at year-end.

How are you going to form your early start team?