It is April, time to think about Georgia States and 2020 Leagues!

Tennis is big in Georgia.  How big is it?

Georgia usually has the 2nd most participants in USTA League of all states, second only to California.  And California is two sections while Georgia is just one of 9 states in the Southern Section!

But USTA League is not the only game in town, ALTA is huge in the greater Atlanta area, so big that USTA League has to schedule their leagues around the ALTA season leading to a number of early start leagues that start as early as May.  Yes, teams are now forming in Georgia for the 2020 championship year while most areas are just getting going for 2019.

But this packed schedule doesn't keep the USTA from scheduling multiple seasons for some leagues, which leads to a lot of teams qualifying for States.  And that is pertinent right now as 18 & Over Georgia States are coming up in a few weeks.

I've done a number of reports on teams, flights, and simulating results, and there are a few observations.

First, winning Georgia States is a tough job.  In some cases there are three flights of six teams each meaning a team must potentially win seven straight matches (5 in flight, a semi and final) to just win States and get to go to Sectionals.  And some of these teams already had to win local playoffs to make it to States.

Second, due to the early start leagues and Southern's rule allowing bumped up players to keep playing on their teams, there are some loaded teams with bumped up players still playing at their lower level.

Third, despite some loaded teams, some flights are going to be very competitive.  One flight had 4 of 6 teams all tied with the same full roster average rating, and another had the top 5 of 6 all with full roster averages within 0.04 of each other.  There are going to be some competitive matches and flight winners may not be decided until the last point is played.

Good luck to all the teams playing at Georgia States!