11-16-2022, 09:54 AM
New ITA rankings dropped today, and here's where we stand:
11. Connie Ma (down 4 spots from 7)
38. Alexandra Yepifanova (down 24 spots from 14)
44. Alexis Blokhina (debut in the rankings)
45. Angelica Blake (up 60 spots from 105)
We also have the 36th-ranked doubles team in Blokhina/Yepifanova as Ma/Blake drop out of the rankings. Valencia Xu also fell out of the singles rankings.
You may be asking yourself, "hey, wait, how can Ma have that great run at Fall Nationals and somehow DROP in the rankings??" And the answer to that is that the players above her had better fall resumes. They played in multiple elite fall tournaments, whereas Ma played in just one--Fall Nationals. So, they got a lot of wins against good players while Ma was sitting on campus. (This is not a criticism of Ma, by any means. It's simply how Lele manages the fall schedule. We have players who are absolutely among the 50 best in the country who won't qualify for the NCAA singles tournament because their rankings won't be good enough, and rankings depend on who you play and who you beat. Get Ma in those tournaments and she's top 5. Get Yepifanova in those tournaments and she's top 10-15. Get Blokhina and Blake in those tournaments and they're top 30.)
Because of how the rankings are calculated, wins over highly-ranked players are extremely valuable, wins over middling players don't do much for you, losses to highly-ranked players barely hurt you, and losses to middling players are a major drag on your rankings. So, the incentive is to play as many top-quality matches as you can. Stanford has clearly made a choice not to do that. And that's not to say it's a bad choice on balance! The spring season is going to eat into time in class on campus, so perhaps Lele lightens the load in the fall so players can have a heavier academic workload now and thus take it a little easier in winter and spring quarters. It also has the benefit of keeping miles off their tires, and we've seen it in the past that our players peak in the late spring and seem fresher when the NCAA tournament rolls around. Anyway, there are benefits; I'm just noting that there are costs in terms of the rankings. Something to keep in mind when selections for the individual NCAA tournament are announced.
Another thing that hampers Stanford players in the ranking is our region. At Northwest Regionals, we usually have 6-8 players among the top 16 seeds, and often 4-5 of the top 8. Our primary competition at that tournament are players from Cal, a handful of other good players from UW and sometimes Oregon or St. Mary's, and each other. Meanwhile, some of the southeastern regions have several excellent programs there, so it's almost like playing another elite fall tournament in terms of how it helps (or in the case of losses, doesn't really hurt) your ranking.
UNC has three in the top ten, including #1 Fiona Crawley, #5 Abbey Forbes, and #8 Carson Tanguilig (who lost to Ma), plus #18 Annika Yarlagadda, #48 Reilly Tran, and #58 Elizabeth Scotty. Six in the top 60! Goodness.
Closer to home, USC has a strong showing: #2 Madison Sieg, #17 Snow Han, #24 Eryn Cayetano, #83 Emma Charney, and #96 Naomi Cheong.
11. Connie Ma (down 4 spots from 7)
38. Alexandra Yepifanova (down 24 spots from 14)
44. Alexis Blokhina (debut in the rankings)
45. Angelica Blake (up 60 spots from 105)
We also have the 36th-ranked doubles team in Blokhina/Yepifanova as Ma/Blake drop out of the rankings. Valencia Xu also fell out of the singles rankings.
You may be asking yourself, "hey, wait, how can Ma have that great run at Fall Nationals and somehow DROP in the rankings??" And the answer to that is that the players above her had better fall resumes. They played in multiple elite fall tournaments, whereas Ma played in just one--Fall Nationals. So, they got a lot of wins against good players while Ma was sitting on campus. (This is not a criticism of Ma, by any means. It's simply how Lele manages the fall schedule. We have players who are absolutely among the 50 best in the country who won't qualify for the NCAA singles tournament because their rankings won't be good enough, and rankings depend on who you play and who you beat. Get Ma in those tournaments and she's top 5. Get Yepifanova in those tournaments and she's top 10-15. Get Blokhina and Blake in those tournaments and they're top 30.)
Because of how the rankings are calculated, wins over highly-ranked players are extremely valuable, wins over middling players don't do much for you, losses to highly-ranked players barely hurt you, and losses to middling players are a major drag on your rankings. So, the incentive is to play as many top-quality matches as you can. Stanford has clearly made a choice not to do that. And that's not to say it's a bad choice on balance! The spring season is going to eat into time in class on campus, so perhaps Lele lightens the load in the fall so players can have a heavier academic workload now and thus take it a little easier in winter and spring quarters. It also has the benefit of keeping miles off their tires, and we've seen it in the past that our players peak in the late spring and seem fresher when the NCAA tournament rolls around. Anyway, there are benefits; I'm just noting that there are costs in terms of the rankings. Something to keep in mind when selections for the individual NCAA tournament are announced.
Another thing that hampers Stanford players in the ranking is our region. At Northwest Regionals, we usually have 6-8 players among the top 16 seeds, and often 4-5 of the top 8. Our primary competition at that tournament are players from Cal, a handful of other good players from UW and sometimes Oregon or St. Mary's, and each other. Meanwhile, some of the southeastern regions have several excellent programs there, so it's almost like playing another elite fall tournament in terms of how it helps (or in the case of losses, doesn't really hurt) your ranking.
UNC has three in the top ten, including #1 Fiona Crawley, #5 Abbey Forbes, and #8 Carson Tanguilig (who lost to Ma), plus #18 Annika Yarlagadda, #48 Reilly Tran, and #58 Elizabeth Scotty. Six in the top 60! Goodness.
Closer to home, USC has a strong showing: #2 Madison Sieg, #17 Snow Han, #24 Eryn Cayetano, #83 Emma Charney, and #96 Naomi Cheong.