But since it is used this year, it is always interesting to look to see how many matches end in 2-2 ties, and how far down the tie-breaker rules matches go to be decided.
As background, see my prior analysis on 2021 and 2022 matches using this format where we see a pretty consistent trend of around 26% of team matches ending in 2-2 ties, around 10% of all of them being tied on sets, and around 1% of all matches being tied on games and being decided by the court one winner.
So far, the 3.0, 3.5, and 4.5 levels of 40 & Over have played with the 4.0 level to be played this coming weekend.
Overall there have been 226 team matches played, and 62 (27%) have ended in 2-2 ties. Of those 62, 43 were decided by the sets lost tie-breaker leaving 19 (8.4%) to be decided by the games lost tie-breaker, and 18 of those were, with just one (0.44%) having to be decided by the winner of court one doubles. These numbers are generally consistent with past years, although the number having to be decided by the court one doubles winner is a little lower than past years.
One level/gender stands out as the one with the most ties this year and that was the 4.5 women round-robin where 14 of the 34 team matches (41%) were tied 2-2, five were tied on sets (15%) and the one tied on games (3%) happened here.
Interestingly none of the 2-2 ties for the 4.5 women were in the semis/3rd-4th/final, but the other levels/genders had some:
- 3.0 women - The final was a 2-2 tie decided on sets.
- 3.0 men - Each semi and the final were 2-2 ties! Each one decided on sets.
- 3.5 women - One semi, the 3rd-4th, and final were 2-2 ties, the final decided on sets.
- 3.5 men - Both semis and the 3rd-4th were 2-2 ties.
- 4.5 men - 3rd-4th and the final were 2-2 ties, the final decided by 2 games!
That is 12 of 24 or 50%, so the matches are more closely matched than regular season for sure, but also round-robin matches it appears.
We'll see how this weekend's matches go!
What do you think, are you sorry to see the 4-court format go? Did you like the excitement of counting sets and games? 🤣
I really wish USTA would go to 3 doubles especially in the 40+ division. Why play singles during doubles season?
ReplyDeleteFirst, I think you are projecting your local league season on the entire nation, there is no such thing as "doubles season" nationally.
DeleteSecond, there are players over 40 that like playing singles, why take away their playing opportunity? Get to 55+ and it is doubles only.
I love NORCAL's method used during the regular season whereby Line 1 Doubles is worth 2 points (all other lines are 1). There is always a winner and D1 is typically a good match. I wish all lines were weighted based on position (points per position) as I believe it would promote the best possible competition for all lines, discourage 'flipping' and help out with more accurate year-end ratings.
ReplyDeletePoints per position (PPP) is definitely a good way to create an incentive to play your best on the top lines and avoid the silly 2-2 tie-breakers. PPP has been around a while and is even used for 5-court formats in other sections.
DeleteThe counter argument though is that PPP gives too much of an advantage to strong teams and takes away the opportunity for upsets to occur through strategic line-ups.
Perhaps, but stronger teams would generally win regardless, and I suppose weaker teams can still strategize to get as many points as possible. Overall, I just think it promote better competition and players would appreciate it. Nothing like taking one for the team when a line 3 pairing is slotted in line 1 much to their dismay :-)
DeleteBut the numbers are arbitrary. Once you realize that, there's no stacking nor 'taking one for the team' in reality. Line 1 doesn't mean that's where the best players play. PPP might have some merit in matches where's an even number of courts like the 40+ adult leagues to avoid ties. But now, that format is being discontinued, as it should, so PPP isn't really necessary.
DeleteI think more players overall like the arbitrary system. There's always strategy for any level/any match, especially when singles is involved as players can't play both singles and dubbs as they do in college. Even in college where there's rules set in place for playing the best player(s) on court 1 and so forth, there's ways around this still.