The Road to THE TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP 2024
Blue Glove Open Finals Week
The Blue Glove Open took center stage last weekend as Thanksgiving offered players a respite from the arduous grind of life on the Tour.
However, despite the hiatus, there was still some jockeying for position thanks to points dropped from this time last year. Among the top beneficiaries were Kiran Mathura and Diego Levi, both of whom cracked the Top 10.
Mathura moved up in the 14U Tour from 11th place, replacing Ilan Faraci, who fell to 13th. Levi's climb also was attributed to Faraci, this time at the 18U level. A Tour Championship qualifier who nabbed a record haul of 35 points in August, Levi finds himself in 10th.
Two Blue Glove Open matches last weekend helped determine two Finals spots. Ethan Wang won in his season debut over Finn Koski to set up a rematch in the Final and narrowly out-seat Rhett Dove on account of game difference. Wang earns Player of the Week honors with his 7-5 victory.
Meanwhile, Shiloh Auzoux found himself in a similar situation, having been rained out in previous matches this fall. One win might have been enough to challenge for the Group C Final depending on his scoreline.
But Vincent Finisdore, playing for pride at 0-2 and out of the Finals chase, stopped him in his tracks to notch his first BGO win despite multiple tournament trophies in as much time.
On Sunday, Siena Auzoux was set to face Lila-Briskin Watson for a ticket to the Group C Final, but the rains washed away the chance. Instead it will be Lara Isler who makes the final to take on top-seed Alexander Yu.
Briskin-Watson had already qualified for Group B's final against Jake Snow.
There was little drama over Group A's Final spots---Alexander Toker-Katskee and James Reed face off in a rematch of their Week 2 classic, which Toker-Katskee won 7-5.
Blue Glove Open Finals
The top two players qualify automatically. The next qualified player will take the place of any players with conflicts.
Group A: Alexander Toker-Katskee v James Reed
Group B: Jake Snow v Lila Briskin-Watson
Group C: Alexander Yu v Lara Isler
Group D: Finn Koski v Ethan Wang
Blue Glove Open - Fall 2023 Standings
The top two players in each group qualify for Championship Weekend finals.
2024 Points Change
A change to the points applied to higher-level tournaments from lower levels should reflect ages and skills better from now on. It used to be that all points were halved when applied to a higher age group's rankings. Now, the points are halved each step up the ladder, not just once.
So a player can no longer earn 80 points at 10U and count them as 40 at 16U. They would be halved at 12U (40 points), again at 14U (20 points), then again at 16U (10 points). It provides the incentive without disrupting the older players' earnings too much.
However, a younger player earning points in an older tournament, much as Arnav Nadikatla did in this Tour Championship edition, is still a sure way to rise faster in those rankings.
Remember the newly added feature to the rankings: the Plus / Minus, which will tell you how far up or down the player has moved within the last week.
The full tables now look like this.
Each weekend this spring and summer, Tennis Central is bringing you USTA and UTR tournaments at Holton-Arms School. Earn points for advancing through each round, just like on the pro tours, and qualify for the TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP at season's end.
Bigger events offer more points, with the TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP offering the most, as well as prizes.
Check here for updates each week to the Tennis Central Tour Rankings, a 52-week points system based on the pro tours, as well as recaps of all the action and photos.
December
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