A refresher on how 2021 USTA League Nationals work

USTA League Nationals starts two weeks from today and as we approach it, I thought it would be a good idea to write a refresher on how it works.  See this for a refresher I wrote in 2019.

Teams qualify from the 17 sections by playing in local leagues, and advancing through one or more of local, district, and state playoffs to make it to Sectionals, where the winner qualifies for Nationals.  Thus, there will be up to 17 teams for each division/gender/level.

I say "up to" because at some levels, typically at the ends of the rating ranges, e.g. 2.5 and 5.0, sometimes a section might not have enough interest or participation and won't send a team.  Or once in awhile, a team that wins Sectionals and qualifies will elect to not go, and decides late enough that the runner up can't go either.  So sometimes there won't be 17 teams.

Now, 17 teams is kind of an odd number when it comes to having multiple same sized flights.  For years, until 2018, the USTA split the 17 teams into four flights, three with four teams and one with five teams.  The teams played round-robin against the other teams in their flight, and the flight winner advanced to the semi-finals.  The three 4-team flights would have three matches for each team, the 5-team flight would have four.

The semi-finalists would then play a normal single elimination bracket with the two winners facing off in a final for the championship, and the losers playing for 3rd place.

It was always a little awkward with the 17 teams, being in the 5-team flight meant you got to play an additional match and get more tennis in or get more players in a match, but you also had to play an additional match increasing the risk of a loss and perhaps putting the flight winner at a disadvantage with an extra match tiring folks out.

Now, when one section didn't send a team, there was a nice round 16 teams that were nicely split into four flights of four teams each.  But if more than one section didn't send a team, you got awkward situations again.

In 2018, the USTA introduced a new format for Nationals: Unflighted Round-Robin.  In this format, the 17 teams are all in one flight, but clearly they couldn't all play each other, so instead each team plays a random four other teams.  The semi-finalists are determined by standings in this single flight, the top-4 advancing.

This solves the problem of an uneven number of matches nicely regardless of the number of teams, but it introduced some other pros and cons:

• Pros
• Every team gets a consistent four matches.
• Unlike with the four flights where an early loss might eliminate you, there are ways to make the semis with a loss as it is pretty common that one or more 3-1 teams finish in or tie for a top-4 spot.
• Cons
• It is possible for five (or more) teams to finish 4-0 and one would be sent home.
• While four teams finishing 4-0 is possible, it is not assured or even the most likely scenario, meaning teams will be tied for a semi-final spot and the standings tie-breakers come into play that are arguably flawed and may advance the "wrong" team.
• The random schedule typically results in some teams with far easier/harder schedules which influence who makes the semis since they are all being compared with each other.

I wrote a lot on the topic three years ago, issues with the tie-breakers did crop up a few times, and I even submitted a regulation change proposal to fix the tie-breakers, but alas the format remains as-is for 2021.

The format was used in 2018 and 2019 and would have been in 2020 but Nationals were not held, so this will be the third year it is used.

While unflighted round-robin isn't new for 2021, this will be the first year that the 40 & Over division uses the 4-court format at Nationals.  This format was introduced for 2020 but since Nationals were not held, 2021 will be the first time it is used for a National Championship.  Stay tuned for a write-up on this.

To all those teams going to Nationals, good luck!