Best Practices for Tournaments

This combination of requirements and guidelines, adopted by the USTA Adult/Senior Competition Committee for national championships, is recommended for adoption by district and sectional events to promote uniformity, streamline tournament administration and make the Internet web page a complete tournament information resource.

Prior to the Registration Period

• Use the TennisLink administration function to renew your sanction and to update relevant information.

• Accept (and even emphasize) online registration via TennisLink.

• Click here for instructions on how to make your web page complete by adding essential information on topics like Amenities, Conditions, Directions and Hotels.

• If the Surface appeared as "Unknown" on last year's page, contact your section administrator to have it corrected.

• Acquire, if not already done, the free TDM software for tournament administration.  Click here to do that.  (preliminary downloads of the .NET Framework and Data Access Component are almost always unnecessary).

• Use first-match loser consolations ("FMLC") that require players to signup.  To accomplish this in TDM, designate main draws as Single Elimination and manually create corresponding consolation events (also single elimination).

• Consider closing the doubles entry (and making the draws) at the same time as the singles and also having the doubles events finish a day before the singles (recommended for Category I & II events).

During Registration

• Record paper and telephone entries in TDM often and publish them on the Internet by performing Download Tournament and Upload Tournament operations; do this daily as the entry deadline approaches.

• Resolve unmatched and partial doubles pairings (TennisLink does not complete an original unpaired player when the second player is the one who specifies his partner).

• Assist unpaired players in finding a partner.

• Designate and post provisional seeds a few days before the entry deadline and give consideration to revisions suggested by players.  Designate four number 5 seeds rather than 5 through 8, eight number 9 seeds, etc.  Click here for detailed guidelines on seeding.

Making the Draw

• Make and post the draw as soon as possible after the entry deadline — preferably the following day.

• IMPORTANT!  Consider playing a small number of matches a day early should a division have an awkward number of entries, e.g. 17-18 or 33-34 (so most players play on the first scheduled day).

• Schedule at least the first two days of matches (to ensure players with byes are informed of their start times).

During the Tournament

• Have each court equipped with chairs, singles sticks, scorekeepers and water.

• Use the Tournament Desk function in TDM to check players in, assign courts and record scores.  Consider using a projector to display its contents for the benefit of players and spectators.

• Clay courts can benefit by not being swept between matches. Rather, have only the lines brushed.  (Sweeping will make them dusty and mid-day watering during a tournament is impractical.)

• At the conclusion of each day's play, make sure the schedule for two days hence is complete before performing the nightly Upload Tournament.

• Have first-match losers affirmatively sign up for consolation events.  Manually create separate events and enter entrant into the appropriate event. 

• Use match tiebreaks (first to ten with a margin of two) in lieu of third sets for consolations (and notify players in advance).

Special Considerations for National and Regional Tournaments

• Recognize that out-of-section players must schedule travel arrangements.  Those playing only doubles will benefit from having their draws published with the singles draws.

• Provide name tags — for players and their wives — and, when possible, provide courts for wives.

• In making the draw, it's allowable (and desirable) to prevent players from the same Section and/or doubles partners from meeting in the first round.

• Try to ensure that players play every day (no skipped days). 

• Emphasize the desirability of using FMLC consolations with signup required so as to avoid the numerous defaults and scheduling problems that result from using the TDM automated consolation draws.

• Category I & II tournaments must provide 3rd/4th place ("Top 4") playoffs.  Singles draws in all Category I's (and eight Category II's) must follow ITF rules for placing seeds (place a check mark in the "ITF Draw" box on Events/Event Properties/Draw Information in TDM).

Disclaimer

• A number of the foregoing are recommendations only.  Some may not fit the requirements of your event.

• The practices included herein focus on the administration and conduct of tournaments without regard to tournament promotion — a separate and distinct topic.