09-13-2019, 03:38 PM
Our reigning national champions get back to work soon. I was expecting to announce that several Stanford players were selected for the ITA All-American Championships (selections were announced today), but the selections were just posted, and not a single Stanford player is on the list.
That's right, we're skipping ITA All-Americans. But why? The fall season doesn't factor into the ITA team rankings that dictate seeding and the like, but they are important for individual rankings, particularly for players who won't be playing at the top of the lineup. A good fall season can allow a player at the bottom of the lineup on a good team to bank some quality wins that can get them into the NCAA singles and doubles championship draws.
If this holds, and isn't just some administrative error, then I'm struggling to understand the rationale. Perhaps Lele is having our players play in some ITF tournaments?
In any event, the lack of ITA All-Americans means we can probably expect the following fall schedule of individual tournaments (we don't have a 2019-2020 schedule out yet):
* First week of October: St. Mary's Invitational, Moraga, CA
* October 18-22: ITA Northwest Regionals at Stanford.
* November 6-10: ITA National Fall Championships ("Fall Nationals") at Newport Beach, CA. To qualify for Fall Nationals, our singles players need to be quarterfinalists (or consolation finalists) at ITA All-Americans (so that's out as an option), finalists at Northwest Regionals, or be ranked highly enough to be one of 21 at-large selections. For doubles, teams need to either be semifinalists (or consolation finalists) at All-Americans, champions at Northwest Regionals, or be ranked highly enough to be one of 10 at-large duos.
That's right, we're skipping ITA All-Americans. But why? The fall season doesn't factor into the ITA team rankings that dictate seeding and the like, but they are important for individual rankings, particularly for players who won't be playing at the top of the lineup. A good fall season can allow a player at the bottom of the lineup on a good team to bank some quality wins that can get them into the NCAA singles and doubles championship draws.
If this holds, and isn't just some administrative error, then I'm struggling to understand the rationale. Perhaps Lele is having our players play in some ITF tournaments?
In any event, the lack of ITA All-Americans means we can probably expect the following fall schedule of individual tournaments (we don't have a 2019-2020 schedule out yet):
* First week of October: St. Mary's Invitational, Moraga, CA
* October 18-22: ITA Northwest Regionals at Stanford.
* November 6-10: ITA National Fall Championships ("Fall Nationals") at Newport Beach, CA. To qualify for Fall Nationals, our singles players need to be quarterfinalists (or consolation finalists) at ITA All-Americans (so that's out as an option), finalists at Northwest Regionals, or be ranked highly enough to be one of 21 at-large selections. For doubles, teams need to either be semifinalists (or consolation finalists) at All-Americans, champions at Northwest Regionals, or be ranked highly enough to be one of 10 at-large duos.

