USTA Middle States offers different levels of tournaments to meet your competitive needs. You may enter any tournament, although you should strive to find the level of tournament at which you can best meet your personal tennis goals. You are also welcome to contact the director of junior competition for advice.
What is a sanctioned tournament?
A sanctioned tournament is one that is approved by the USTA. The club, organization, or person running the tournament has paid a sanction fee to the USTA and agrees to run the tournament following USTA MS Tournament rules and regulations. Complete tournament schedules are available on the USTA Middle States Section web site, middlestates.usta.com.
USTA Middle States Section will provide a paper copy of the tournament schedule for both juniors and adults. Sanctioned national tournaments are listed in the USTA National Junior Tournament Schedule or on the USTA website (www.usta.com).
Levels of competitive tennis and tournament
- District level - This level is for local competition and players but events are normally open to players from other districts.
Section level - This level includes the following states in the USTA Middle States Section: These events include players from each District within the Section and are not open to players from outside the section.
- National level - Encompasses the United States. These events include players from each section within the United States. USTA National Championships have restrictions on the participation of players who are not U.S. citizens or permanent resident aliens.
- International level - Encompasses the world. These events include players from all around the world.
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Levels of Tournaments in Middle States
In addition to the major levels listed above, the USTA Middle States Section adopted a tiered structure to offer junior players the chance to compete at appropriate levels. By providing different levels of tournaments in the Section, the hope is that stronger players will have a greater likelihood of choosing events with strong competition, while players who are in earlier stages of development will have a better opportunity to compete with players closer to their own level of play.
The USTA Middle States Section junior tournament structure encompasses all of the junior age divisions (18, 16, 14, and 12) and has three levels set forth below. There is also a 10-year old division for District play.
The these levels of play are as follows:
UR: UR is the abbreviation for unranked tournaments. UR events are designed for entry-level USTA junior members who have never received a sectional ranking. The full birth date, including month of birth, must appear on the application.
DR: DR is the abbreviation for District Ranking tournaments. They are designed for the developing player who is either pursuing a district ranking, working his/her way up to the SR level, or who elects to play tournaments close to home. DRs are open to all USTA junior members, except where designated as “Closed”. For ranking information please go to you home district’s web site or go to “Juniors”, “Player Info” to view the points table.
SR-L6: SR is the abbreviation for Sectional Ranking tournaments. SR events count toward USTA MS sectional ranking and are designed for the serious competitor. SRs are open to all USTA MS junior members only based on current USTA MS standings. Go to “Juniors”, “Player Info” to view the points table.
SR-L5, L4 and L3 Sectional Championships: These events count toward section ranking but their primary purpose is to provide competition among the outstanding USTA MS juniors who are pursuing USTA national tournament eligibility. These events are open to USTA MS residents based on current USTA MS standings.