My Plan to Fix USTA Junior Tournament Tennis in Florida

The USTA has been on a mission over the last 7 years to essentially do to junior tournament tennis what it has already done to USTA league and Adult tournament tennis.  First the USTA implements a new match format in USTA adult league tennis, the intended purpose being to reduce the court time per match of each individual and team match, thus allowing the USTA and the facilities they use to cram more people on the court, maximizing their own profits.  After they see that adults are still playing despite receiving less of the actual product they're paying for, they then implement that format or rule change into junior tournament tennis for the identical reasons, and under the same guise of "player protection."  The rub is, they look at Junior Tournament tennis at the sectional level as purely recreational rather than competitive.

Now, the ITA, the intercollegiate tennis association is also utilizing shortened match formats under the guise of player protection.  Again, players get to participate less in the competitive activity they train for, and seemingly no one cares or sees the harm these decisions are doing to the end product, which is player development.

While in Alaska on vacation, I discussed with my brother, an ardent USTA adult league player for many years in North Carolina, my two theories about the evolution of the game and the fitness level of players.

My first theory is that if you take a 14 yr old player from 1984, and put him through two, two out of three set matches, every day for three days, and then put a 14 yr old from 2014 through the same rigor, with each player playing within their own time period, the player in 1984 would be able to last through that rigor, while the player today could not. The reason the player in 2014 cannot, is because we are not demanding that they be able to do that.  Instead, we have lowered the demands of the player to only be able to last through two sets and a match tiebreak.

Of course, at the pro level, there are no match tie breaks in singles.  However, throughout a player's junior development through USTA tournaments in Florida, regardless of age, we keep our formats to two sets and a match tie break.  Players train for that less rigorous demand, and thus fitness levels suffer.

My theory is that the as the game has evolved to become more physical, athletes have become, bigger, stronger, faster.  An athlete today can do far more than the athlete of yesterday, in part because the game is more rigorous physically.  The human body adapts over time to meet the physical demands of the sport.  I suggest that there is no reason to lessen the demand on players as juniors.  They are more than capable of going through the same rigor in match format as players did 30 years ago.

If you raise or lower the standards of excellence for players, they will adjust their training appropriately to meet those demands.  Right now, we are in this phase of lowered standards for physical fitness, because the match formats are not challenging enough.  I submit a player in 1984 would be more tired in his time after a long two out of three set match, then a player today after a two set and match tie break match.  Yet back then they got one hour between matches, and today they get two hours after less of a match.  We have created players that are more concerned about amount of rest, rather than players who are fit enough to simply keep playing if necessary.  Look no further than the designated tournament we host here in Tallahassee every July.  Players are more concerned about getting their two hours even if the match was a 50 minute 6-0, 6-0 match.  It has gotten absurd.

So here is my plan to restore USTA junior tournament tennis to a system that promotes and demands that our players be more physically fit, and have the mental toughness to go three full sets.

10 and under 

Format: Two sets and a match tiebreak (no ad scoring)
Rest period between matches: 
Duration of match dependent.
If match time is between 0-90 minutes, player must be ready to play again in one hour
If match time is greater than 90 minutes, player must be ready to play in 90 minutes
Maximum matches per day singles per singles event: 3 matches per day

12 & under

Format: Two out of three sets, regular scoring
Rest period between matches:
Duration of match dependent.
If match is 60 minutes  or less, player must be ready to play in one hour
If match is 61-120 minutes, player receives 90 minute break
If match is greater than 2 hours, player gets two hour break.
Maximum matches per day singles per singles event
Depends on results.
If player plays 5 sets or less in two matches, must be ready to play a 3rd match.
If player plays 6 sets in two matches, he may not play a third match.

14 & under

Format:  Two out of three sets, regular scoring
Rest period between matches:
Duration of match dependent
If match is 90 minutes or less, must be ready to play in 1 hour
If match is over 90 minutes, player must be ready to play in 90 minutes
Maximum matches per day singles per singles event
Depends on results.
If player plays 5 sets or less in two matches, must be ready to play a 3rd match.
If player plays 6 sets in two matches, he may not play a third match

16 & under, 18 & under

Format: Two out of three sets, regular scoring. 
Rest time between matches
Duration of match dependent
If match is two hours or less, must be ready to play in one hour
If greater than two hours, player must be ready to play in 90 minutes.
Maximum matches per day singles per singles event
Depends on results.
If player plays 5 sets or less in two matches, must be ready to play a 3rd match.
If player plays 6 sets in two matches, he may not play a third match

Other Necessary Changes 

Allow players to play two singles events where applicable.

In Florida, this is ONLY allowed in locals in Region 1, and is banned for all other tournaments in the state.  It should be noted it was banned to make tournament directors' lives easier.  Get rid of the ban at ALL local and super series level tournaments in the state..  This encourages players to play more matches, challenge themselves at the higher level, while going for wins at their own level.  It builds confidence and stamina.  Players choosing to play two events, would only be given a max of 60 minutes between matches, regardless of outcome.

Eliminate the 12 hour rule for 12 and under and up.
The 12 hour rule mandates that a player must receive 12 hours of overnight rest between the time his match on day 1 ends, and his match on day 2 begins.  This is another rule that should be match dependent.  There is no reason a player needs 12 hours if their match was only an hour long.  10 hours is sufficient.  If the match is between 1-2 ours, then an 11 hour break would suffice.  If greater tan two hours, then and only then would the player get 12 hours.

Stop having doubles at tournaments, except as stand alone events.
This would allow the cumulative physical toll to lessen some, as players would not have to play extra matches on top of singles.  In addition, eliminating doubles would allow time for players to play two events in singles. Plus, doubles is the first draw to get eliminated, and is always fraught with problems such as, pull-outs, walkovers, and directors constantly having to hold players over while they wait for people to finish, infuriating the players and their parents who get irritated when they don't know when they play next.  At the Florida state closed doubles, these problems do not exist because everyone is there to play doubles.  Simply schedule more doubles-only tournaments to promote doubles.     

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So there you have it.  My "common sense" approach to Junior Tournament Tennis if I were ever elected King of USTA for the day.