USTA Ratings Shake Up for 2010 Season

After a highly successful 2009 USTA season at the 3.5 NTRP Level, I was bumped to 4.0 for 2010.  I posted a singles record of 7-2 in my 3.5 league and even had a singles win at 4.0 as well.  I am proud of my 2009 results and am proud to get bumped up a level, but apparently I wasn’t alone.

It appears the USTA decided to shake things up a bit this year and bump large percentages of players up a level.  Disclaimer:  My 3.5 captain told me the following information that he heard from a local USTA Midwest official.  I did not receive this information directly from the USTA, and quite frankly, I don’t have the time or inclination to validate it.  So here goes…

Across the U.S.:
Approximately 51% of 2.5 players were bumped to 3.0
Approximately 42% of 3.0 players were bumped to 3.5
Approximately 29% of 3.5 players were bumped to 4.0
Approximately 16% of 4.0 players were bumped to 4.5

While this shake up certainly caused a little bit of chaos at my club – with teams getting dismantled and people scrambling to form and find new teams, I applaud the USTA’s efforts to attempt to keep the various levels as fair and balanced as possible.  Did the USTA feel there was too much “sand bagging” occurring in leagues throughout the U.S.?  Perhaps.  Perhaps they simply felt it was time to clean up and level out the leagues a little bit.  Regardless of the reasons, I think this shake up is a good thing for USTA League Tennis. 

For my situation, I feel the bump was completely justified.  After being out of the game for eight years and having never played USTA League Tennis, I honestly didn’t know – with certainty – where I stood, so upon invitation, I joined a 3.5 team at my club.  While I didn’t completely plow through my opponents at 3.5, I did well enough to determine that I belong in a 4.0 league this year. 

Hopefully most of the other bumps throughout the U.S. were justified as well.

Thanks for checking in.

DH