LTA Strategy

Elegant Point · Satellite level

LTA Strategy

JonH comes home · Tennis legend

Elegant Point wrote:
Just reading about the LTA's strategy to adopt the World Tennis Number in early 2020 - apparently the algorithm is 'highly complex' and therefor the exact calculation will not be published........... I still think the process should be transparent and the algorithm (however complex) published. Maybe others will disagree? One of my main criticisms of the UTR system is the use of it's proprietary (secret) algorithm - also coupled with the fact that UTR harvest data for free and then charge people to access another players UTR to 2 d.p. Thankfully there is no suggestion that a WTN will not be freely available to all.

I can definitely see the advantages of having a WTN rather than an LTA rating for our college players and for players to have a separate doubles WTN,

Hi Elegant Point - you probably need to explain more to luddites like me?! What is a World tennis Number and what will it be used for? Will it impact me as a club player, bashing a ball around on a Sunday morning or it is aimed at something higher?

Born2WinTennis · Club Coach

Yes the WTN is aimed at everyone. Most players in the UK are a 9.2 or a 10.2 (in the current 1.1, 1.2, 2.1 to 10.2 system). This means they have never played enough matches which count for LTA Ratings wins to even begin moving up the ladder. Only singles wins count at the moment, doubles is irrelevant.

The new system will see you have two ratings one for singles and one for doubles. Instead of simply getting a win or a loss and these being counted up quarterly and adjusted, sets will now be considered so a 2-1 sets loss is better than a 2-0 sets loss and as I understand it the ratings will change in nearly real time. That's probably the limit of my current understanding, but I also assume if it was say a 10 point scale, if you loose 2-1 in sets to a 1 rated player, this will impact you rating more positively compared to loosing 2-1 in sets to a 6 rated player.

christ · Futures level

If I ever got a point off of a 1 rated player, the world would be treated to my "happy dance".

... and yes, although I am slightly ashamed to say it, that would include a double fault.

Elegant Point · Satellite level

JonH comes home wrote:
Hi Elegant Point - you probably need to explain more to luddites like me?! What is a World tennis Number and what will it be used for? Will it impact me as a club player, bashing a ball around on a Sunday morning or it is aimed at something higher?

The WTN has been nicely explained by B2W (thank you smile )

Just a couple of other points to note : Like the UTR, the system will be gender and age neutral. Because it will include matches played at home and abroad (so assuming college matches), it will benefit college players trying to get into grade 1 or 2 Brit Tours over the summer..... Some of whom do not get in/are not seeded because they are not a 1.1 (males) but probably should be, or because they are a 1.1 but have few points due to spending 3/4 of the year in the US.

The LTA plan to communicate further details about how the system will operate "in due course" including: Guiding principles behind the algorithm Scale Frequency of update The length of time each result will count for within the calculation

Link to LTA frequently asked questions

https://www.lta.org.uk/globalassets/competitions/competition-changes/world-tennis-number-faqs.pdf?_t_id=1B2M2Y8AsgTpgAmY7PhCfg%3D%3D&_t_q=world+tennis+number&_t_tags=language%3Aen%2Csiteid%3Af3862a05-6b76-4b3c-9179-c99ae142b858&_t_ip=5.148.15.234%3A57785&_t_hit.id=Lta_Models_Media_Pdf/_4f55e146-ce08-4825-adbf-cd83deb665f0&_t_hit.pos=1

TennisMom · Social player

So will the results still be going to UTR as well?
Does anyone know.

Elegant Point · Satellite level

TennisMom wrote:
So will the results still be going to UTR as well?
Does anyone know.
--------------------------------
Yes - UTR is a for profit standalone rating system.

Since UTR really only of interest to those looking for a scholarship to the US, I guess the pertinent question is will college coaches continue to use the UTR system when awarding scholarshs or WTN??

Born2WinTennis · Club Coach

The USTA are founding partners of the WTN so surely they would make the US College coaches toe the line. Assuming the coaches are all USTA affiliated in some way, like the LTA coaches in the UK.

Tennpar · Strong Club Player

I thought that national tennis bodies e.g. the LTA needed to feed domestic match results to UTR for it to be accurate and relevant number?
Will this still happen if there is a WTN alternative?

Born2WinTennis · Club Coach

I personally can't see a reason why UTR will need to exist after the WTN is introduced. They are a commercial organisation though, so perhaps they will pay for the governing bodies to still release the results. Not sure why the governing bodies would though since their rating system will be in direct competition with UTR. I wonder if UTR don't make any money if they will stop running all the tournaments they currently run. These could be self-sufficient however since the entry fees are very high.

EddietheEagle · County player

More LTA fun and games.

www.telegraph.co.uk/tennis/2019/12/10/lawn-tennis-association-forced-pay-porn-star-slur/

I would have thought it more an accolade than a slur to be referred to in jest as a porn star. I strongly doubt he'd get a payout for that in his own country so why try it on here?

Seems Scott Lloyd needs to up his game judging from the reported internal discord. He needs to up his grammar too - "Myself . . . . . take full pride . . . "

Born2WinTennis · Club Coach

Oh dear that article doesn't paint a rosy picture of the current senior management.

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

Sometimes you just despair, don't you....

It makes you cringe - don't these people have brains? How could anyone possibly think that was a good idea as a comment (for a leaving speech for someone being made redundant, even more....)?

And the rest of it is just sad - so, Lloyd hasn't made any 'rapport' with any of the players, not even the juniors - well, quelle surprise but.....

Born2WinTennis · Club Coach

Noticed today the old national club league turned aegon team tennis turned team tennis...has now been rebranded to "National League"

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

So, with only three wins in singles in the Australian Open, all in R1, and all players losing easily in R2, this surely has to be one of the worst Grand Slam showings by GB Players for a long, long time.

And when the commentator on Eurosport (the old guy with the posh voice) is asked why Italy are doing so well at the moment and he says, basically, "Just a lucky coincidence" - after all that has been said about how the Italian federation have re-vamped their approach, focusing on the whole pyramid, etc. etc. - it makes you want to scream !