USTA/Mid-Atlantic Section
Adults/Seniors
Tournament Director's
Manual
Congratulations on your
decision to host a sanctioned tournament! This may be one of the most
rewarding experiences you can
have as long as you have the tools and information necessary in
order to run a successful
event.
This manual is not
intended to teach you how to run a tournament. There are various tournament
formats, events and locations.
These issues can make holding a tennis tournament significantly
different each time. This manual
is intended to describe the important actions and activities
necessary to plan and hold an
event. Several pieces of information in this manual are taken
directly from the Friend at
Court handbook, consisting of the rules and regulations governing all
USTA Sanctioned events.
The manual is not
intended to be a static document but one that is subject to revisions and
enhancements in order to assist
tournament directors in running a tournament. Updates will
be found on the MAS
website www.midatlantic.usta.com - go to seniors/adults and then
tournament directors info.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TOURNAMENT FORMATS page
2
MATCH FORMATS __
_____page 2
SEEDING page 3
PARTICIPANTS page 4
DAILY PLAY LIMITATIONS
page 4
ENTRY FORM/TOURNAMENT
HOME PAGE_______________ page 5
REFEREE & OFFICIALS
____ page 6
TOURNAMENT CHECKLIST
page 7
Tournament Formats- All
draws must be done using TDM.
Tournament draws are
directly downloaded from the
internet into the ranking
program.
There are several
tournament formats that are acceptable for Mid-Atlantic sanction and sectional rankings.
They include:
• Single elimination – No consolation round.
• First match consolation – Only the losers of their first match
play in the consolation rounds.
Each player is
guaranteed two matches.
• Modified Consolation – The losers in the first two rounds of the
draw play the consolation
round.
• Full Feed-In Consolation – This draw type provides the greatest
amount of match play for
all players. The full FIC
traditionally only includes players up to and including the quarterfinals.
• Curtis Consolation - When there is a shortage of courts or when a
feed-in needs to be
played in a limited amount of
time, some tournaments use a modified feed-in format.
• Round-robin format- Where there are 3-4 players (teams)
Important Points:
1. All MAS
Championships MUST offer a ¾ play-off.
2. All MAS
Championships are strongly encouraged to run at least a 1st match consolation.
Match Formats
All sectional
tournaments to be used for USTA/Mid-Atlantic rankings must use the best two out
of
three tiebreak set format,
with the following exceptions:
• Tournaments affecting 70 and above may,
at the discretion of the Tournament Director,
employ a 10 point match
tiebreak in lieu of a third set. The intention to employ a 10 point
match tiebreak must be set
forth in the available tournament information, such as on the
Mid-Atlantic website (www.midatlantic.usta.com), tournament entry
forms, and the
Tournament
Handbook and/or Yearbook.
• In the event of inclement weather affecting outdoor tournaments,
the standard format may
be modified to permit a
10-point match tiebreak in lieu of a third set and/or no-ad scoring.
2
• “Shootout” tournaments designated as one day events may employ
either a 10-point match
tiebreak in lieu of a third set
OR a single 8 game pro set on a must win by two games
basis, with a match tiebreak
should a set reach 8 all. EIGHT GAME PRO SETS ARE NOT
ALLOWED
FOR NATIONAL RANKING PURPOSES.
• In NTRP tournaments, a 10-point match tiebreak may be used
throughout the tournament
at the discretion of the
Tournament Director.
• It is recommended that the Tournament Director employ the Coman
Tiebreak Procedure to
determine the winner of a set,
should the score reach 6-all. This format is the same as a
7-point tiebreak except
that ends are changed after the first point, then after every four
points, and at the conclusion
of the Tiebreak. Any tournament electing to use the Coman
Tiebreak Procedure must
announce the election before the start of tournament play.
Seeding
Seeding is basically a rating of various players’ chances of
winning the tournament. These ratings should be based on all available
objective evidence including players’ records, head to head results,
type of
surface etc. Rankings in MAS are based on a player’s win/loss record but they
do not tell the whole story particularly when players are aging up, or if there
are good players who don’t have a
recent
record or didn’t play enough tournaments to get a ranking. MAS does provide a
12 month standing’s list in all age divisions and it is here that you can find
players records. You may also want to look at the previous year’s rankings
where you can see a player’s record for a ranking year.
Go to www.midatlantic.usta.com, then to Adult/Seniors and click on rankings. The TDM program that
you are using does have an “automatic seeding” component which you should not
use. Friend
at
Court, which you will receive, has very detailed information on the whole
seeding process. The MAS staff cannot do your tournament seedings.
Key points to remember in the seeding process:
• The number of players seeded
shall equal a power of two (for example, 2, 4, 8, 16, or 32).
The maximum ratio of players seeded shall be one in three, except
that any draw may have two seeds.
• The seeded positions are
determined by lot which TDM will do for you.
• Complete instructions on making
the draw and seeding can be found in the most current edition of Friend at
Court.
The section maintains a list of volunteers whom you can contact as
another resource in your seeding efforts. This list will be included in your
tournament packet which will be mailed to you approximately 3 three weeks
before your event.
Participants
In order to participate
in a sanctioned tournament, a player must be a current USTA member.
Should a player not
have a card (or it has expired), advise the player that USTA membership is required
and they may either renew/obtain a USTA membership instantly by phone
800-990-USTA or on the web www.usta.com. When manually entering players in TDM, contact any player
without current USTA membership and instruct them to call 800-990-USTA or go
online to www.usta.com to become a member. Allowing non-USTA members to play
presents a significant ranking problem, as none of the matches played against a
non-member will count on their ranking record. It is important to get a valid membership
number before the draw is made.
Daily Play Limitations
for Adult Tournaments
Divisions Maximum # of Matches
Rest Between ALLOWED
Open, 30, 35, 40, 45’s
2 Singles & 1 Doubles or
1 Singles & 2
Doubles or
3 Doubles
1 hour/Singles &
Singles or
1 hour/Singles &
Doubles or
1 hour/Doubles &
Doubles
50’s or 55’s 2 Singles
or
1 Singles & 2
Doubles or
3 Doubles
1.5 hours/Singles &
Singles
or
1 hour/Singles &
Doubles or
1 hour/Singles &
Doubles
60’s* or 65’s 2 Singles
or
1 Singles & 1
Doubles or
2 Doubles
2 hours/Singles &
Singles
**or
1.5 hours/Singles &
Doubles
or
1.5 hours/Doubles &
Doubles
70’s or 75’s 1 Singles
& 1 Doubles or
2 Doubles
2 hours/Singles &
Doubles
or
1.5 hours/Doubles &
Doubles
80’s or 85’s 1 Singles
& 1 Doubles or
2 Doubles
2 hours**
2 hours**
• 60’s may play 3 matches, no more than 2 of which should be singles
• **These are increased from the current Friend
at Court.
• These limits are per age division event. For example, a player entering both the
30’s and
35’s could play 4 singles matches in one day
• Players participating in more
than one age division shall be given a minimum of 30 minutes
rest
between matches. Playing 16 or more games of singles, or 20 or more games of
doubles, to
complete a match carried over from a preceding day may be counted, at the player’s
option, toward the above limits.
Entry Form/Tournament
Home Page Should Include:
Dates: tournament and
closing entry date
Site: Surface, number
of courts, lights
Entry fees:
Address
and person to whom entries and fees should be sent.
Draw format, match
format (draw limitations)
Using tie-breaks in
lieu of 3rd set or pro set for one day events
Money prizes
Dress code at club, if
any
TD contact info
including cell phone and email
Paper entry should
include:
Player’s contact
information including cell and email
DOB
USTA #
Events to be played and
requested time constraints
Doubles partner USTA #
Tournament results
& rankings
Tournament Director can
also add notes to the tournament home page during the event.
N.B. You may use on-line
registration. If you do not yet offer on-line registration for your
tournament and wish to do so for
the coming year please contact the MAS Manager of Competitive
Tennis ( MAS office # is 703-556-6120) or you may email Tennis Link
directly linkteam@usta.com
Referee & Officials
All sanctioned
tournaments should have a Referee. Neither the Tournament Chairperson nor the
Tournament Director may
serve as or assume the responsibilities of the Referee. The USTA
recommends that every on-court
official, Net Umpire, Line Umpire, Chair Umpire, and Referee, in
any sanctioned tournament
be a member of the USTA Officials Council and certified in accordance
with USTA Regulation XI. If
an uncertified referee is employed, they must be thoroughly familiar
with the Friend at Court and
have it with them at all times during tournament play. If you plan to employ
certified officials it is the responsibility of the Tournament Director to
contact your region's
officials assigner as soon as
your sanction application has been approved. Minimally, requests for officials
should be made three months prior to a tournament’s
NOVATOA ( Northern Virginia Tennis Officials Association)
Gary Heinberg
703-404-5563
gheinberg@adelphia.net
SVTUA (Southeastern
Virginia Tennis Umpires Association)
Wayne W. Kuhnly
Home: (757) 258-0163
E-mail: wbkuhnly@cox.net
GRTUA (Greater
Georgia Saunders
One10sgal@aol.com
804-379-0839
WVTOA (
Winston Green
434-384-5939
wgreen@benckmark-systems.com
Ruth Dupree
Dupree1200@aol.com
202-635-2719start date. Contact list:
Bev Conley
bevconley@atlanticbb.net
304-329-2746
Tournament Checklist
Entries:
Mailed Out
Is Online
registration available?
In sanction application
for online tournament home page there should be a notation if the tournament
will not accept the standard entry form.
Draw:
Posted online at least
3 days prior to the beginning of the tournament
Match times posted
before tournament and/or players contacted
Seeds posted online at
least 4 days before tournament
Draws updated online on
a daily basis
Draws posted at
facility during event and updated daily
At Tournament Site:
Courts available for
practice before event
Courts available for
practice during event
Off-site courts, as
necessary
Restrooms
Water available
Ice
First Aid kit
Court conditions good
Singles sticks
Tournament evaluation
forms
On site telephone
Officials:
Certified official on
site and /or TD on site at all times
Lateness penalties in
effect
Amenities:
Participation gift for
all players-if possible
Complimentary food
and/or refreshments
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