2021 USTA League Nationals is on! (Fingers crossed)

COVID-19 wreaked havoc with our lives in 2020 and USTA League tennis was not spared with league play canceled or postponed in all areas and USTA League Nationals canceled and not held for 2020.

The new year has brought some hope that we can return to something closer than normal, and USTA League play has begun or is set to begin in many, but not all, sections and that gives hope that league play can happen, and those that qualify can advance on through playoffs including to Sectionals and Nationals.

Adding fuel to the hope is the USTA publishing information about 2021 USTA League Nationals including the schedule as of 2/11 and updated FAQ regarding COVID-19.

This is great news, that Nationals is at least being planned for as without the plans, and certainly wouldn't happen.  And with encouraging news about vaccines and declining hospitalization rates in most areas, hopefully the events can be played as planned.  And coupled with Tri-Level Invitational being run by the USTA this year and occurring shows sone positive momentum.

So what are the plans?

Nationals will be held as usual in October and November, and the host sites for Nationals will be:

• Phoenix, AZ - Phoenix Tennis Center
• Scottsdale, AZ - Scottsdale Ranch Park
• Surprise, AZ - Surprise Tennis and Racquet Complex
• Oklahoma City, OK - Oklahoma Tennis Center
• Orlando, FL - USTA National Campus

This is very similar to what had been planned for 2020 Nationals with the exception that Las Vegas was to be used for three events last year but appears to have been replaced by Phoenix/Scottsdale.  Here is the week by week schedule with locations.

October 1-3

• OKC - 18 & Over 3.0
• Surprise - 18 & Over 3.5
• Phoenix - 18 & Over 5.0

October 8-10

• Scottsdale - 18 & Over 2.5W
• Surprise - 18 & Over 4.5
• OKC - 40 & Over 4.0

October 15-17

• Surprise - 18 & Over 4.0
• OKC - 40 & Over 3.5
• Scottdale - 40 & Over 4.5
• Orlando - 55 & Over 7.0 (clay)

October 22-24

• Surprise - 40 & Over 3.0
• Orlando - 55 & Over 8.0 (clay)

October 29-31

• Orlando - 55 & Over 6.0/9.0 (clay)
• Surprise - 18 & Over Mixed 6.0/8.0/10.0

November 5-7

• Surprise - 18 & Over Mixed 7.0/9.0

November 12-14

• Surprise - 40 & Over Mixed 7.0/8.0
• Orlando - 40 & Over Mixed 6.0/9.0

Obviously the Phoenix area is the focal point for Nationals with at least one event being held there every weekend and more than half of the events in that area.

It appears the USTA is paying attention to weather patterns and past lessons with weather related fiascos and trying to reduce the chances of weather delays.  Oklahoma City is used early before the weather perhaps gets colder/worse, and Orlando is used later to avoid the increased chances of Hurricanes in September/October.  Weather can always be unpredictable, but at least it appears the plan tries to avoid problems as much as possible.

Let's hope USTA League remains on schedule and gets played and the above schedule can happen.  Good luck to all those teams with aspirations of making it to Nationals!