Joel Pickett's Dallas 4.5 team travels to Tuscon this weekend for Nationals. They've been placed in what appears to be a fairly tough flight. Traditional powers Northern California and Florida as well as a Seattle-based Pacific NW team (coached by Roger Mark?) will all be tough outs.
The Texas Section has been successful on the men's side at Nationasl this year, with runner-up finishes in both 5.0 and 4.0. As you probably know, this will probably result in some ratings inflation and significant "bump ups" throughout the state.
Ratings for the 2012 season will be published sometime in late November or early December.
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Just got a text that the Dallas squad is down 3-1 in their first match against Norcal....
ReplyDeleteDallas ended up losing 3-2, so they still have chances to get to Sunday if things go right.
ReplyDeleteSomeone texted me this stat: Texas men's teams at Nationals (3.0, 3.5, 4.0, 5.0) were 16-4 before this weekend's results. Awesome.
I plead guilty to having a bias against 4.0 players who move up to 4.5, despite the success of some of them. So forgive me for thinking "Wow, this Dallas 4.5 team is not very good." I'm sure I'm probably wrong about this, but seeing three guys (Mudsum, Hai Nguyen and Jean Nguyen) in the starting lineup who were playing 4.0 two or three years ago (and not really dominating there) makes me think that 4.5 tennis in Texas this year was DOWN.
Jason Kern was playing 4.0 as well.
ReplyDeleteI think this Dallas team is solid enough to take 3 lines off of most teams (maybe not nationals - although I bet they win their next 2 matches). They very good, just not great.
Well, sounds like there will be mass bump-ups again in Texas rather than some of us 4.25 coming down to 4.0.....sigh
ReplyDeleteHouston's 4.5 teams got smoked at Sectionals. Texas's 4.5 National team just lost. I wouldn't go all gloom and doom about local 4.5 ratings just yet.
ReplyDeleteLocal 4.0s and 5.0s may get pushed up. Local 4.5s will probably stay about the same (unless USTA keeps engaging in the mass bumps to inflate 4.5 league sizes).
12:48 - I just TennisLink'ed Kern. He's 4.5 all the way this year. Where is this "Kern was playing 4.0 as well." info coming from?
ReplyDeleteKern played 4.0 3 or 4 years ago. Unlike those other players that Htown mentioned, he was actually a star at that level.
ReplyDeleteJust because Kern played 4.0 for a season as a self-rate doesn't mean he's a 4.0. It just means that Freeman was working his "magic".
ReplyDeleteIf you look at Kern's 4.5 record since, he's close to being a star at 4.5. Which is why Freeman originally recruited him to play 4.0.
Jean Nguyen, Hai Nguyen, Phy Pham, Michael Almazan and Jason Kern are all very solid 4.5's. All of these guys will get benchmarked at 5.0 at the end of the year.
ReplyDelete...and good luck to these guys. All have worked hard and are excellent sports.
ReplyDeleteLooks like Dallas 4.5 is back in it with a big win tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteDallas fell 5 games short...GREAT RUN and way to represent Texas!!!
ReplyDeleteWhat Captains' party? Guess you're not the only jerk nobody likes.
ReplyDeleteLOL. There was a captain's party? News to me as a captain.
ReplyDeleteBetter question: Did any captain(who reads this blog) go to an HTA party recently?
I don't see anything about a captain's party on the HTA website.
ReplyDeleteAny news about Year-End Ratings? What seasons count this time? Spring, Summer & Fall?
ReplyDeleteonly the spring is going to count toward YE ratings.
ReplyDeleteThat's not so great.
ReplyDeleteLooking to play tennis while in Houston and a guy wanted me to join his tennis team. I think he said it was 4.0. I am not from this country but did play ITF juniors and won a couple of tournaments. My world ranking in 2010 was in the 1000's in boys 18's. I also participated in a futures event but only won one round of qualifying. What is my rating to play on a team? Please be honest because the guy said I could play 4.0 and it would be fine. He was an older gentleman though.
ReplyDeleteIf you won any ITF juniors tournaments, even G5, you are at least 4.5.
ReplyDeleteFreeman and Dwyer have already run a search on your IP address. You will be a 4.0 Hurricane in 2012.
ReplyDeleteIf you had an world ranking, you start at 5.5. This is similiar to SuperChamps ranked in the top 20 on a state level. They are required at 5.5 per USTA guidelines.
ReplyDeleteAnything beneath that is a DQ in waiting.
1:31, here's the deal. On the USTA website there's a document called "General and experienced player guidelines.pdf". The link is here "http://assets.usta.com/assets/1/15/ExperiencedGuidelines_02142011_V2pdf.pdf".
ReplyDeleteIf you were a "Satellite, Futures, Circuit Players
(over # 400 in world)", which it sounds like you were not since it sounds like you were not over #400 in the world, you'd have to self-rate 6.0 since you're under 35.
It appears most likely that you fall under the category "Domestic or foreign Junior 18's ranked in top 150 nationally or in a section in the top 20", since I'm guessing you were in the top 150 in your country. In this case, since you're under 30, you'd have to self-rate 5.0.
Finally, if you were ranked lower than 150 in your country, you'd probably fall under "NAIA, Div. 2 & 3 unranked college team player (commited to, playing, or played ) -program with no scholarships (not much stronger than High School tennis); Junior College player; Former Juniors who had national (foreign or domestic) rankings but did not tour or play in college", i.e. had a foreign ranking but 151+. In this case since you're under 35 you'd have to self-rate 4.5.
Bottom line, it doesn't look like there's any way you can legally self-rate 4.0.
Now let's sit back and watch while the other posters have fun with the word "legally".
I made the original post. What do you mean by using the word legally? What kind of trouble would this cause? I did not feel like I was much stronger than the men playing 4.0. Regardless of that will my past experience over-rule that fact if it is questioned.
ReplyDeleteThe trouble would be disqualification from that level.
ReplyDeleteIf past experience dictates a minimum self-rating then how good you actually play is irrelevant. I had to self-rate 5.5 and there are a lot of 4.5 players better than me.
I guess that guy was not looking out for my best interest. It is sad that I would be the one to get into trouble. I am sure he would not get into trouble. He told me that he was in charge of the team. I do not think someone willing to do this should be in charge. I think I will wait and play once I am back in India. This has turned me against the team tennis. Thank you for your information.
ReplyDeleteSounds like he spoke with Freddy Soewito
ReplyDeleteJust post your name.
ReplyDeleteThen we'll run an internet search to see what we can dig up for your playing history.
If we can't find anything, then you can self-rate at 4.0.
ITF junior rankings are super easy to find.
ReplyDeleteI would sign up for a 4.5 tournament and see how you do against tournament players. If you are competitive but middle of the pack, then rate yourself as 4.5 and enjoy playing team tennis.
ReplyDeleteHugo Alan lazcano, have fun finding his junior record. He played in Mexico and is currently playing 4.0 league in San antonio. He is probably 18 or 19 years old. The team he plays on recruits Mexican nationals. Do you have to be US citizen to play usta ?
ReplyDeleteHard? Really? Try googling "Hugo Lazcano" and tennis.
ReplyDeleteThe first page has multiple hits to Hugo playing Junior Davis Cup. At that point, it's just a matter of asking Todd Reed at the Texas USTA office whether that level of player experience is compatible with a 4.0 self-rating. I'd guess not, but it's easy to get the answer either way.
There is no citizenship requirement to play USTA League tennis. As far as residency goes, USTA League Regulation 1.04E(1) says that "Residents of foreign countries who meet membership and age requirements may be invited by a USTA Section to participate in the program provided that all such matches are played within the Section." The kicker is they have to be "invited", but it's probably easy enough to get an invitation. But since Hugo Alberto Lazcano is also on the same team, my guess is that's his dad and they moved here.
ReplyDeleteLooks like Lazcano has participated in ITF junior and Adult tournaments. He has a career high world ranking of 1158 in ITF juniors. Pretty sure he will be top 150 in his nation. He played in one pro event (futures)so he is probably an open player playing in the 4.0 league. Why does the USTA not flag this player? I could not find where he played junior Davis cup.
ReplyDeleteBetter get him protested before he gets a computer rating in 2 weeks.
ReplyDeleteJust 6 days to go till new ratings.
ReplyDelete